Project description:Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a primary causative agent of acute lower respiratory tract infections. We used single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) to assess lung immune profiles in a mouse model of HMPV infection.
Project description:Ureaplasma are widespread parasites colonizing the mucosal surface of the human urogenital tract, and it has been suspected as a causative agent of nongonococcal urethritis, pregnancy complications and prenatal infections. Ureaplasma may also cause central nervous system infections and affect the lower respiratory tract of newborn babies. However, Ureaplasma spp. have also been detected in the urogenital tracts of clinically healthy patients, and their role in the development of infections thus remains unclear. Like in other organisms, virulence of Ureaplasma is determined by the presence of virulence factors - adhesions, human IgA protease, phospholipase and urease. However, the existence of interrelationships between the presence of these genes in the Ureaplasma genome and the incidence of diseases in man has not been demonstrated. Difficulties in the elucidation of these interrelationships may arise from significant macro- (gene mutation, chromosomal rearrangements) and micro- (nucleotide polymorphism) genomic heterogeneity. It is possible that the combination of the variable strain-specific genes in Ureaplasma with generally known virulence factors determine the development of pathological processes on the mucosal surface of the human urogenital tract. In our research we used 10 clinical and 1 laboratory strain
Project description:Avibacterium paragallinarum is the causative agent of Infectious Coryza, an acute upper respiratory tract disease in chickens. The occurrence of outbreaks has emphasized that the disease can be significant in broiler as well as layer chickens. In developing countries, infectious coryza is commonly complicated by a range of other infections, resulting in severe disease and significant economic losses. There are vaccines on the market but with limited efficiency, due to the serological differences amongst the different serogroups of A. paragallinarum. Recent advances in genomics have led to whole genome sequencing of the chicken, creating an opportunity for the use of high-throughput technology such as microarrays. The objectives of this study was to screen for gene expression patterns across clinical scores associated with the immune response in chickens infected with A. paragallinarum serovar C3, as well as to establish which biological pathways are stumulated when infected with A. paragallinarum.
Project description:N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a mucolytic agent commonly administered together with antibiotics for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections, which has been demonstrated to exert also an antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against relevant respiratory pathogens. We analysed the transcriptomic response of P. aeruginosa planktonic cultures to NAC exposure (at concentration achievable by the inhalation route of administration).
