Human bacterial pathogens are a specialized subset of bacteria which are usually part of our flora. The group seeks to understand how pathogens colonise specific niches in the body, evade elimination by the immune system, and cause disease. We study Neisseria spp., which are leading causes of bacterial meningitis and gonorrhoea, and enteric pathogens, such as Shigella spp.. Many of these pathogens possess plasmids which confer virulence and/or resistance, and we are now defining mechanisms that promote plasmid maintenance. We take advantage of knowledge of these pathogens to develop vaccines and novel therapeutics that target the bacterium or their plasmids. We have designed vaccines against the meningococcus which are currently in clinical development.
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Distribution of blaTEM alleles and comparison of pbla plasmids in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Scanning electron microscopy of mixed Neisseria microcolonies on epithelial cells.
Understanding fundamental aspects of pathogen biology should allow use to design interventions to eliminate virulence/resistance. We also continue to develop vaccines against these important pathogens.
2023
Meningococcal factor H-binding protein: implications for disease susceptibility, virulence, and vaccines.
Yee, W.X., Barnes, G., Lavender, H., Tang, C.M. and Lavender, H.
Trends Microbiol. – S0966-842X(23)00059-8.
2022
Pathogenic Neisseria Bind the Complement Protein CFHR5 via Outer Membrane Porins.
Yee, W.X., Tang, C.M. and Lavender, H.
Infect Immun. – 90(10): e0037722.
2022
Markerless gene editing in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Jones, R.A., Yee, W.X., Mader, K., Tang, C.M. and Cehovin, A.
Microbiology – 168(6)
2022
Virulence plasmid pINV as a genetic signature for Shigella flexneri phylogeny.
Pilla, G., Arcari, G., Tang, C.M. and Carattoli, A.
Microb Genom. – 8(6): mgen000846.
2022
Maintenance of the Shigella sonnei Virulence Plasmid Is Dependent on Its Repertoire and Amino Acid Sequence of Toxin-Antitoxin Systems.
Martyn, J.E., Pilla, G., Hollingshead, S., Winther, K.S., Lea, S., McVicker, G. and Tang, C.M.
J Bacteriol. – 204(3):e0051921.
2021
Type VI secretion system killing by commensal Neisseria is influenced by expression of type four pili.
Custodio, R., Ford, R.M., Ellison, C.J., Liu, G., Mickute, G., Tang, C.M. and Exley, R.M.
eLife – 10:e63755.
2020
Bacterial rhomboid proteases mediate quality control of orphan membrane proteins.
Liu, G., Beaton, S.E., Grieve, A.G., Evan, R., Rogers, M., Strisovsky, K., Armstrong, F.A., Freeman, M., Exley, R.M. and Tang, C.M.
EMBO J. – 39(10):e102922.
2020
Identification of Novel Neisseria gonorrhoeae Lineages Harboring Resistance Plasmids in Coastal Kenya.
Cehovin, A., Jolley, K.A., Maiden, M.C.J., Harrison, O.B. and Tang, C.M.
J Infect Dis. – 218(5): 801-808.
New meningitis-B vaccine developed by the Tang lab
April 2024
The collaboration between the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd and the University of Oxford will provide lifesaving protection against Men-B through the production of a chimeric protein-based vaccine.
Chris Tang elected Fellow of American Society of Microbiology
February 2024
It has been announced that Professor Chris Tang of the Dunn School has been elected to the Fellowship of the American Society of Microbiology, one of the largest and oldest professional societies.