Project description:The Type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a bacterial mechanism that delivers effectors to eliminate competitors and modulate host responses. We previously discovered that the oral symbiont Aggregatibacter aphrophilus uses its T6SS to kill the pathobiont Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. To understand how the T6SS-dependent mechanism of A. aphrophilus affects host cells and A. actinomycetemcomitans, we co-cultured our immortalised epithelial cell line with A. actinomycetemcomitans and various strains of A. aphrophilus: wild-type (HK83 + JP2, n = 6), a T6SS-deficient strain (HK83 Δhcp + JP2, n = 6), and double mutants (HK83 Δtle5 Δglh + JP2, n = 6). As a baseline, we also examined single inoculations of A. aphrophilus (HK83, n = 6), the Δhcp mutant (HK83 Δhcp, n = 6), the Δtle5 Δglh mutant (HK83 Δtle5 Δglh, n = 6), and A. actinomycetemcomitans JP2 (JP2, n = 6). Cells not challenged served as controls. This study aims to identify specific effectors and characterize host responses to A. aphrophilus T6SS.
Project description:To determine the biological mechanisms underlying a dampened immune response to Porphyromonas gingivalis, as compared to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans challenge, we infected primary BMDCs with either pathogen or left uninfected
Project description:To determine the biological mechanisms underlying a dampened immune response to Porphyromonas gingivalis, as compared to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans challenge, we infected primary BMDCs with either pathogen or left uninfected Total RNA from uninfected BMDCs compared to BMDCs infected with either Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans or Porphyromonas gingivalis