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Full-Text Articles in Medical Sciences
Transcriptional Signatures Of Host Susceptibility In Urinary Tract Infections, Lu Yu
Transcriptional Signatures Of Host Susceptibility In Urinary Tract Infections, Lu Yu
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are common and highly recurrent. Two important non-behavioral risk factors for UTI in women are genetics and history of two or more episodes of previous UTI. However, specific mechanisms of how these two factors modulate host susceptibility to UTI remain unclear. Concordantly, inbred mice of various genotypes and with different infection histories exhibit different susceptibilities to acute and chronic bladder infection (cystitis), which recapitulates a range of clinical UTI outcomes observed in women. Early host-pathogen interactions have been shown to determine UTI outcomes in mouse models. Here, we used two …
Host Determinants Of Protection And Pathogenesis During Chikungunya Virus Infection, Lindsey Elaine Cook
Host Determinants Of Protection And Pathogenesis During Chikungunya Virus Infection, Lindsey Elaine Cook
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that causes acute and chronic polyarthritis. The virus has rapidly emerged over the last decade, and in 2013, CHIKV spread to the Western Hemisphere for the first time, infecting more than 1.8 million people. CHIKV targets the joints and musculoskeletal tissues, resulting in severe myalgia and symmetric polyarthritis that clinically mimics rheumatoid arthritis. Currently, no approved treatment is effective in preventing or controlling CHIKV infection or disease. Pathogenesis of CHIKV is still poorly understood but is thought to reflect an interplay between viral replication and detrimental immune responses. CHIKV patients have increased numbers …
Dynamic Host-Pathogen Interactions Result In Fungal Epitope Unmasking, Alex Hopke
Dynamic Host-Pathogen Interactions Result In Fungal Epitope Unmasking, Alex Hopke
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Molecular camouflage is used by a diverse set of pathogens to disguise their identity and avoid recognition by protective host receptors. The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans is a good example, as it masks the inflammatory component β-glucan in its cell wall to evade detection by the immune receptor Dectin-1. Interestingly, it has been seen that β-glucan becomes unmasked during infection in vivo, though the underlying mechanisms remained unclear. Exposure levels of this epitope may be important, as Dectin-1 mediates protection from some strains of C. albicans and alterations in the organization and composition of the Candida cell wall …