Belinda Hall

Belinda Hall

Senior Research Fellow

University of Surrey

Tel: 07904215554

Email: b.s.hall@surrey.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

VALIDATE Role: Network Associate

 

Research area keywords: Buruli ulcer; host pathogen interactions; cell biology

 

 

Biography

I have a longstanding interest in neglected tropical diseases and have worked with a number of different pathogens including trypanosoma and leishmania, investigating interactions with the host, protein trafficking and drug metabolism. My current work focuses on Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, and its toxin, mycolactone. Having established the mechanisms underlying the  immunosuppressive activity of mycolactone, I am currently studying the interaction of the bacterium with host macrophages and the role of mycolactone in determining the response to intracellular infection.

 

Key publications

 

  • Boakye-Apiah JK, Hall BS, Reljic, R, Simmonds, R. Current Progress and Prospects for a Buruli Ulcer Vaccine. (2023) In Vaccines for Neglected Pathogens: Strategies, Achievements and Challenges. Springer
  • Hsieh LT, Hall BS et al. Mycolactone causes catastrophic Sec61-dependent loss of the endothelial glycocalyx and basement membrane: a new indirect mechanism driving tissue necrosis in Mycobacterium ulcerans infection (2023) bioRxiv. 2023 Feb 21:2023.02.21.529382. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.21.529382. Preprint.
  • Hall BS, Hsieh LT, Sacre S, Simmonds RE. The One That Got Away: How Macrophage-Derived IL-1β Escapes the Mycolactone-Dependent Sec61 Blockade in Buruli Ulcer (2022). Frontiers Immunol. Jan 26;12:788146.
  • Hall BS, Dos Santos, Hsieh, LT-H et al. SEC61 inhibition by mycolactone induces a protective autophagic response controlled by EIF2S1-dependent translation that does not require ULK1 activity (2012) Autophagy  18:841-59.
  • Brocard M, Lu J, Hall B, et al. Murine Norovirus infection results in anti-inflammatory response downstream of amino acid depletion in macrophages. (2021) J Virol.  95(20):e0113421.
  • Davies C, Ooi CP, Sioutas G, Hall BS et al. (2021) TbSAP is a novel chromatin protein repressing metacyclic variant surface glycoprotein expression sites in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei. Nucleic Acids Res. 49(6):3242-3262.
  • Gérard SF, Hall BS, Zaki AM, et al. (2020) Structure of the Inhibited State of the Sec Translocon. Mol Cell. 79(3) 406-415.
  • Budzak J, Kerry LE, Aristodemou A, Hall BS et al. (2019) Dynamic colocalization of 2 simultaneously active VSG expression sites within a single expression-site body in Trypanosoma brucei. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 116(33):16561-16570.
  • Ogbechi J, Hall BS, Sbarrato T et al. (2018) Inhibition of Sec61-dependent translocation by mycolactone uncouples the integrated stress response from ER stress, driving cytotoxicity via translational activation of ATF4. Cell Death Dis. 9(3):397.
  • Hall BS et al. (2014) The Pathogenic Mechanism of the Mycobacterium ulcerans Virulence Factor, Mycolactone, Depends on Blockade of Protein Translocation into the ER. (2014) PLoS Pathog. 10(4)e1004061.