Profiling early infection responses: Pseudomonas aeruginosa eludes host defenses by suppressing antimicrobial peptide gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Insights into the host factors and mechanisms mediating the primary host responses after pathogen presentation remain limited, due in part to the complexity and genetic intractability of host systems. Here, we employ the model Drosophila melanogaster to dissect and identify early host responses that function in the initiation and progression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis. First, we use immune potentiation and genetic studies to demonstrate that flies mount a heightened defense against the highly virulent P. aeruginosa strain PA14 when first inoculated with strain CF5, which is avirulent in flies; this effect is mediated via the Imd and Toll signaling pathways. Second, we use whole-genome expression profiling to assess and compare the Drosophila early defense responses triggered by

SUBMITTER: Apidianakis Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC549001 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature