Interactions between Eukaryotic cells and Bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, also called phages, are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. They are the most abundant entity on the planet and are ubiquitous in the environment and within the human body. The goal of my thesis was to understand the interactions between bacteriophages and mammalian cells. I found that phages are able to enter and accumulate within mammalian cells, as well as induce profound changes in essential cellular pathways, including proliferation and cell survival. These fundamental results are essential to understand the role of phages within the body and for the development of phage therapies to fight multi-drug resistant bacteria.