When E. Coli's Day Is Gone and It Wants To Ride on…Cocaine. With Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D.

Cocaine action involves preventing the reuptake of the norepinephrine (NE) transporter, increasing NE and heightening nervous system stimulation.  NE also signals through E. coli receptors to regulate its virulence, but is there a connection between E. coli and cocaine addiction? Dr. Vanessa Sperandio is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin, whose laboratory studies pathogenic E. coli and their interaction with the human host.   Dr. Sperandio describes how E. coli metabolism of glycine in the gut increases addiction to cocaine, how her lab discovered that NE signals through E. coli quorum sensing receptors, how peer review rejection can indicate a novel discovery, how the plasticity of the E. coli pan-genome can lead to rapid and dangerous outbreaks, how treatment of E. coli infections with antibiotics is problematic, how she misses TexMex food, how Wisconsin is a great place to study microbiology, and her vision for the American Academy of Microbiology.  Dr. Marvin Whiteley, editor-in-chief of mBio, joined microTalk on this episode, which was supported by Cholera IV Rehydration Therapy. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Vanessa Sperandio, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin) Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)