Integrative analysis of pathogen-induced compartments (InterACt) - Leibniz ScienceCampus Hamburg

The Leibniz ScienceCampus „InterACt“ investigates the interaction between pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and parasites and the affected host. During the cellular infection cycle, pathogens use the existing reaction spaces of the host or create new ones. These reaction spaces or „compartments“ protect the pathogens from the host's defenses and concentrate factors that contribute to the pathogen's multiplication. The dynamics, structure and function of these diverse reaction spaces is extremely complex and can only be analysed and understood in situ.

The Leibniz ScienceCampus has state-of-the-art imaging techniques at its disposal to analyse these processes. The resulting complex datasets are supplemented with data from complementary methods and integratively merged. The novel insights gained into pathogen compartments will ultimately help enable the discovery of innovative therapeutic approaches. InterACt provides the platform for combining Hamburg's expertise in the fields of infection, structural and systems biology with in situ imaging and bioinformatics methods.