The Mexican scientist Maricarmen Rojas-López is part of a research team that seeks to develop the first preventive vaccine against infections caused by E. coli. In laboratories of the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and of the pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline in Siena, Italy, the Mexican researcher found new proteins that could be used to formulate a new vaccine.
Rojas-López completed her undergraduate studies in biomedicine and master’s degree in microbiology at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. She did research stays at the University of Texas, USA, and later took up a position as laboratory technician at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
“For two years I participated in a research on Plasmodium ssp., a parasite that causes malaria, and I was able to know the entire infection process, from the participation of mosquitoes, in vitro studies and with mice.”
Her knowledge in bacteria led her to seek a doctorate in the subject and was accepted in an industrial multidisciplinary doctoral project by GlaxoSmithKline and INRA for the search of a vaccine for Escherichia coli. The project was sponsored by the “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions” that the European Union supports economically and which brings together scientists from all over the world.
“I studied the genome of the bacteria and identified the genes that could be viable for the production of the preventive vaccine for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, an infection that in recent years has manifested sporadic cases in Chile, Brazil and alarmingly in Argentina. It is a common problem in developed countries, such as the EU. The infection by this pathogen can bring consequences such as hemolytic uremic syndrome.
“We seek to expand protection against this spectrum of bacteria, to other pathogenic E. coli, such as enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic, which are present in Mexico and mainly affect children. The latter is responsible for traveler’s diarrhea. What we have to take into account is that each type produces its own virulence factors, hence the importance of developing a vaccine for each one.”
The Mexican scientist holds a post-doctorate at Harvard University and the General Hospital of Massachusetts (MGH), where she currently participates in a study project to understand the infection process of Shigella flexneri, another enterobacteria that affects the gastrointestinal tract of humans.
“Doing basic research is very important, because that’s where the innovations come from, the new treatments. I was always clear that I am interested in research with a beneficial purpose for the population, perhaps in the long term and with what I do in the laboratory, I get nearer to do it,” concludes Maricarmen Rojas.
Source: Agencia ID
