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Full-Text Articles in Pathogenic Microbiology
Investigation Of Novel Virulence Mechanisms In Candida Albicans, Elisa Marie Tafoya Vesely
Investigation Of Novel Virulence Mechanisms In Candida Albicans, Elisa Marie Tafoya Vesely
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Candida albicans is the most important fungal species associated with humans. Normally present in the human microbiome as a commensal colonizer, C. albicans is also the fourth most prevalent organism isolated from bloodstream infections in hospitals. Disseminated infections have an associated mortality rate of around 40%. The results of the work described in this dissertation cover the broad subject of C. albicans adaptation to the host and the mechanisms by which this organism is able to survive and cause infection through a variety of means. A key determinant in disease progression is interaction with innate immune cells, specifically macrophages and …
Mechanism Of Candida Albicans Biofilm And Virulence Inhibition By A Bacterial Secreted Factor, Carrie Graham
Mechanism Of Candida Albicans Biofilm And Virulence Inhibition By A Bacterial Secreted Factor, Carrie Graham
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
The human microbiome is a diverse polymicrobial population comprised of both fungi and bacteria. Perturbations of the normal microbiome can have a profound impact on health, including the development of infections. Exploitation of these polymicrobial interactions has the potential to provide novel treatment and prevention strategies for infectious diseases. Enterococcus faecalis, a Gram-positive bacterium, and Candida albicans, a polymorphic fungus, occupy overlapping niches as ubiquitous constituents of the gastrointestinal and oral microbiome. Both species are also amongst the most important and problematic, opportunistic nosocomial pathogens and are often co-isolated during infection. Surprisingly, these two species antagonize each other’s …
Characterization Of The Ato Gene Family In Alternative Carbon Metabolism, Heather A. Danhof
Characterization Of The Ato Gene Family In Alternative Carbon Metabolism, Heather A. Danhof
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
As a commensal colonizer and opportunistic pathogen, Candida albicans is the most clinically important human associated fungus. Systemic infection carries an unacceptably high mortality rate of ~40% in the growing population of immunocompromised individuals. Macrophages are important innate immune cells that limit the niches in the human body in which C. albicans can persist through phagocytic removal. However, following phagocytosis C. albicans readily escapes from the immune cell by differentiating into filamentous hyphae, a process that should be inhibited in the normally acidic phagolysosome. We have shown that C. albicans induces germination by neutralizing the phagolysosome. To better understand this …
Regulation Of The Candida Albicans Arginine Biosynthetic Pathway, Claudia Jimenez Lopez
Regulation Of The Candida Albicans Arginine Biosynthetic Pathway, Claudia Jimenez Lopez
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Candida albicans is the most importan thuman-associatedfungus.It is a commensal microorganism but also an opportunistic pathogen able to cause superficial infections aswellaslife-threateninginfectionswhich are associated with a highmortalityrateof 50%. The interactions between C. albicans and the cells of the mammalian innate immune system, which confer the most important protecting mechanisms against disseminated infections, are very dynamic and determine the success of C. albicans as a pathogen. Transcriptional profiling has shown that phagocytosis of C. albicans by macrophages results primarily in the activation of alternative carbon metabolism pathways suggesting that the pathogen is exposed to a glucose poor environment. Changes in …