María Lara-Tejero, DVM, PhD
Associate ProfessorDownloadHi-Res Photo
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Microbial Pathogenesis
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Associate Professor
Biography
Dr. Lara-Tejero received her DVM from University Complutense in Madrid, Spain in 1995, and a PhD in Microbiology from Yale University in 2001, receiving the Nat L. Sternberg Prize for outstanding PhD Thesis in the field of prokaryotic biology. She pursued postdoctoral training in Immunobiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute in New York City as an Irvington Fellow. She joined the Yale University School of Medicine in 2004, where she is currently and Associate Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis. Her laboratory focuses on the study of the pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica. More specifically, her laboratory employs multidisciplinary approaches to study type III secretion machines, which deliver bacterial effector proteins into target host cells to induce pathogenicity.
Last Updated on April 07, 2025.
Appointments
Microbial Pathogenesis
Associate Professor on TermPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral training
- MSKCC (2004)
- PhD
- Yale University (2001)
- DVM
- Complutense University of Madrid (1995)
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Host-Pathogen Interactions; Microbiology; Salmonella; Type III Secretion Systems
ORCID
0000-0002-1339-0859- View Lab Website
Galán/Lara-Tejero Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of María Lara-Tejero's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of María Lara-Tejero's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics María Lara-Tejero is interested in exploring.
Jorge Galán, PhD, DVM
Jun Liu, PhD
Chunxiang Wu
Fulan Guan, PhD
Hesper Rego, PhD
Joerg Bewersdorf, PhD
49Publications
6,783Citations
Type III Secretion Systems
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Salmonella
Publications
2026
Interplay between SpaO variants shapes the architecture of the Salmonella type III secretion sorting platform
Soto J, Wang T, Galán J, Lara-Tejero M. Interplay between SpaO variants shapes the architecture of the Salmonella type III secretion sorting platform. MBio 2026, 17: e00155-26. PMID: 41758121, PMCID: PMC13059759, DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00155-26.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricOligomeric assembly of the gatekeeper InvE orchestrates hierarchical type III protein secretion in Salmonella Typhimurium
Wang T, Zhu L, Guo E, Wu C, Schueder F, Lara-Tejero M, Galán J. Oligomeric assembly of the gatekeeper InvE orchestrates hierarchical type III protein secretion in Salmonella Typhimurium. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2026, 123: e2530441123. PMID: 41587314, PMCID: PMC12878844, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2530441123.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricStructural insights into the assembly and evolution of a complex bacterial flagellar motor
Feng X, Tachiyama S, He J, Zhu S, Zhao H, Botting J, Liu Y, Chen Y, Hua C, Lara-Tejero M, Baker M, Gao X, Liu J, Gao B. Structural insights into the assembly and evolution of a complex bacterial flagellar motor. Nature Microbiology 2026, 11: 770-785. PMID: 41513997, DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-02248-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2025
Typhoid toxin causes neuropathology by disrupting the blood–brain barrier
Zhao H, Catarino J, Stack G, Albizu A, Lara-Tejero M, Horvath T, Galán J. Typhoid toxin causes neuropathology by disrupting the blood–brain barrier. Nature Microbiology 2025, 10: 1340-1351. PMID: 40341334, DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-02000-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2024
Tetrameric PilZ protein stabilizes stator ring in complex flagellar motor and is required for motility in Campylobacter jejuni
Chen Y, Li Y, Feng X, Zhao H, Wu Y, Guo Y, Lara-Tejero M, Hua C, Liu J, Gao B. Tetrameric PilZ protein stabilizes stator ring in complex flagellar motor and is required for motility in Campylobacter jejuni. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2024, 122: e2412594121. PMID: 39793078, PMCID: PMC11725899, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2412594121.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2023
Parkinson’s disease kinase LRRK2 coordinates a cell-intrinsic itaconate-dependent defence pathway against intracellular Salmonella
Lian H, Park D, Chen M, Schueder F, Lara-Tejero M, Liu J, Galán J. Parkinson’s disease kinase LRRK2 coordinates a cell-intrinsic itaconate-dependent defence pathway against intracellular Salmonella. Nature Microbiology 2023, 8: 1880-1895. PMID: 37640963, PMCID: PMC10962312, DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01459-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricThe sorting platform in the type III secretion pathway: From assembly to function
Soto J, Lara‐Tejero M. The sorting platform in the type III secretion pathway: From assembly to function. BioEssays 2023, 45: e2300078. PMID: 37329195, DOI: 10.1002/bies.202300078.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsCitationsAltmetric
2022
Assembly and architecture of the type III secretion sorting platform
Soto J, Galán J, Lara-Tejero M. Assembly and architecture of the type III secretion sorting platform. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2022, 119: e2218010119. PMID: 36512499, PMCID: PMC9907115, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2218010119.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricTyphoid toxin sorting and exocytic transport from Salmonella Typhi-infected cells
Chang SJ, Hsu YT, Chen Y, Lin YY, Lara-Tejero M, Galan JE. Typhoid toxin sorting and exocytic transport from Salmonella Typhi-infected cells. ELife 2022, 11: e78561. PMID: 35579416, PMCID: PMC9142146, DOI: 10.7554/elife.78561.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2020
Itaconate is an effector of a Rab GTPase cell-autonomous host defense pathway against Salmonella
Chen M, Sun H, Boot M, Shao L, Chang SJ, Wang W, Lam TT, Lara-Tejero M, Rego EH, Galán JE. Itaconate is an effector of a Rab GTPase cell-autonomous host defense pathway against Salmonella. Science 2020, 369: 450-455. PMID: 32703879, PMCID: PMC8020367, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz1333.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Honors
honor Irvington Institute for Immunological Research Post-doctoral Fellowship
09/12/2003National AwardIrvington Institute for Immunological ResearchDetailsUnited Stateshonor 2001 Nat L. Stemberg Thesis Prize for outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the filed of prokaryotic and bacteriophage molecular genetics
08/03/2001National AwardNat L. Sternberg Thesis Prize Endowment FundDetailsUnited Stateshonor Award for outstanding research
09/15/2000Yale University AwardMicrobiology Program at Yale UniversityDetailsUnited States
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- (A) Surface view of the 3D reconstruction of the single-particle cryo-EM map of the needle complex (NC) substructure with the atomic structures of the different NC components docked. OR1, outer ring 1; OR2, outer ring 2; IR1, inner ring 1; IR2, inner ring 2. (B) Central section of an overall cryo-ET structure of the complete injectisome in situ. Of note is the location of IR2 in the cytosolic side of the bacterial envelope. IM, inner membrane; OM, outer membrane. (C) Molecular model of the organization of the injectisome in situ, with available atomic structures fitted into the model.
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