Project description:Q fever is due to Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular bacterium. We investigated the mechanism of establishment of chronic form of the Q fever that mainlym anifested by endocarditis. We showed that patients with acute Q fever and valvulopathy, who have the higher risk to develop an endocarditis, exhibited high levels of circulating apoptotic cells. We further investigated the effect of the uptake of dead cells on the intracellular fate of the bacterium and the immune response of monocytes and macrophages.
Project description:The features of Mycoplasma in human organ such lung and urinary tract are enigmatic. Here, the role of M. hominis in regard to biofilm formation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain CFT073 was investigated. Although M. hominis were inferred to not impact on UPEC bacterial fitness including growth and productions of signaling molecules as autoinducer-2 (AI-2) and indole, we found that the presence of M. hominis dramatically decreased biofilm formation of UPEC CFT073 as well as slightly repressed attachment and cytotoxicity of that. Importantly, this activity was observed on UPEC strain specifically, not enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) strain that exists on intestine. Whole-transcriptome profiling and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed PhoPQ system and anti-termination protein (encoded by ybcQ) participates on the reduction of biofilm formation by M. hominis (corroborated by qRT-PCR). Furthermore, collaborating with previous report that toxin-antitoxin (TA) system involved in biofilm formation, M. hominis increased on the transcriptions of toxin genes including hha (toxin gene in Hha-TomB TA system) and pasT (toxin part in PasT-PasI TA system). Hence, we propose that one possible role of M. hominis is to influence bacterial biofilm formation in urinary tract. Only fourteen genes were induced (2.5-fold) by the presence of M. hominis in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) biofilm cells. Among upregulated genes, ybcQ (encodes anti-termination protein Q homolog) and phoP/phoQ (encode DNA-binding response regulators in two-component regulatory system), were induced by the presence of M. hominis. Two-condition experiment, UPEC CFT073 alone vs. UPEC CFT073 with Mycoplasma hominis PG21 (10^5 ccu/ml). For preparing the total RNA, UPEC CFT073 cells were grown at 37°C in biofilm cells on glass wool with or without M. hominis for 24 h.
Project description:The features of Mycoplasma in human organ such lung and urinary tract are enigmatic. Here, the role of M. hominis in regard to biofilm formation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strain CFT073 was investigated. Although M. hominis were inferred to not impact on UPEC bacterial fitness including growth and productions of signaling molecules as autoinducer-2 (AI-2) and indole, we found that the presence of M. hominis dramatically decreased biofilm formation of UPEC CFT073 as well as slightly repressed attachment and cytotoxicity of that. Importantly, this activity was observed on UPEC strain specifically, not enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) strain that exists on intestine. Whole-transcriptome profiling and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed PhoPQ system and anti-termination protein (encoded by ybcQ) participates on the reduction of biofilm formation by M. hominis (corroborated by qRT-PCR). Furthermore, collaborating with previous report that toxin-antitoxin (TA) system involved in biofilm formation, M. hominis increased on the transcriptions of toxin genes including hha (toxin gene in Hha-TomB TA system) and pasT (toxin part in PasT-PasI TA system). Hence, we propose that one possible role of M. hominis is to influence bacterial biofilm formation in urinary tract. Only fourteen genes were induced (2.5-fold) by the presence of M. hominis in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) biofilm cells. Among upregulated genes, ybcQ (encodes anti-termination protein Q homolog) and phoP/phoQ (encode DNA-binding response regulators in two-component regulatory system), were induced by the presence of M. hominis.
Project description:We developed a stem cell-derived culture system for C. hominis using human enterocytes differentiated under air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions. Human ALI (hALI) cultures supported robust growth and complete development of C. hominis in vitro including all life cycle stages. C. hominis infection induced a strong interferon response from enterocytes, likely driven by an endogenous dsRNA virus in the parasite. Prior infection with Cryptosporidium induced type III IFN secretion and consequently blunted infection with Rotavirus, suggesting such co-infections may alter vaccine efficacy.