Welcome to the Landau Lab
Lab’s Date of Birth: September 2012
Virulent and Antibacterial Fibrils in Infectious and Aggregation Diseases
Our work touches on the impact of functional fibrils on two pressing public health issues: I. The rapid growth in the number and prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacteria, coupled with a thirty-year discovery void of new antibiotics. Microbial amyloids can provide fitness for colonization and pathogenicity, and thus designing modulators of their activity is expected to interfere with specific pathways, e.g., inhibiting biofilm formation. Since such modulators act as antivirulence agents, this approach may elicit less resistance compared to bactericidal drugs. II. The prevalence of neurodegenerative disorders and systemic amyloid diseases is increasing, but effective treatments are still lacking. An intriguing connection was proposed between these diseases and microorganisms and their secreted amyloids. We ultimately aim to gain a detailed molecular understanding that will provide a foundation for translational research in drug development and for elucidation of the etiology of and interactions between microbial and human ‘amylomes’ in health and disease.
We are in desperate need for Cryogenic Electron Microscopes (Cryo-EM)!!
Cryo-EM and cryo‐electron tomography (cryo‐ET) are required for studying the detailed structure of macromolecules, and the architecture of cells, viruses and protein assemblies at molecular and atomic resolution, leading to numerous discoveries and applications for drug discovery and delivery, nanotechnology, and different indistries.
In Israel, accessibility to this technology is lacking. Please see a report (In Hebrew) on the subject written by an Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities appointed committee headed by Prof. Ada Yonat.
Group Pictures
Group Picture 2019
Lab members: Eilon, Hanan, Itai, Itzik, Orli, Meytal, Nimrod, Nir, Peleg, and Roee
Group Picture 2018
From left to right: Itzik, Ofir, Orli, Itai, Meytal, Nimrod, Nir
Group Picture 2017
From left to right: Itzik, Sunny, Einav, Orli, Meytal, Nir, Michal, May (and Kiara)
Group Picture 2015
From left to right: Sergei, Yulia, Einav, Meytal, Orly, Michal, Asher
Current Funding:
We are grateful for funding from the Technion, Israel Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, Israel Science Foundation – Individual Research Grant, and U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)
Past Funding:
We are grateful for funding from the Technion, DIP – Deutsch-Israelische Projektkooperation, University of Michigan – Israel Collaborative Research Grant, Henri Gutwirth Fund for the Promotion of Research, Israel Science Foundation – Individual Research Grant, U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Marie Curie Reintegration Grant, the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation (I-CORE Center of Excellence in Integrated Structural Cell Biology), the Henry Taub Prize for Academic Excellence. Umbrella Cooperation – When Life Sciences and Engineering Converge, Eliyahu Pen research Fund, Mallat Family Research Fund, J. and A. Taub Biological Research, and Alon Fellowship from the Israeli Council for Higher Education.