Christine Sütterlin

A main interest of the Suetterlin lab is the biology of Chlamydia infection. The human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common cause of bacterial sexually transmitted disease, with more than 1.8 million new cases reported annually in the U.S. (CDC, 2021). However, Chlamydia is not only a wide-spread and successful human pathogen, but it is also an exciting bacterium with interesting biology. Its unique biphasic developmental cycle takes places within a membrane bound compartment, called the inclusion and involves conversion between an infectious and a non-infectious form.

A second area of research interest is the organization and function of the centrosome, the major microtubule organizing center of the cell. Here, we are pursuing three exciting projects: 1) to understand if the physical proximity between the Golgi and the centrosome in mammalian cells, is important for the organization and function of these organelles, 2) to examine the mechanism of centrosome assembly and 3) to determine the role of the daughter centriole.