Spontaneous Latency in a Rabbit Model of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
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ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is an exquisitely adapted human pathogen capable of surviving for decades in the lungs of immune competent individuals in absence of disease. The World Health Organization estimates that 2 billion people have latent TB infection (LTBI), defined by positive immunologic response to Mtb antigens with no clinical signs of disease. A better understanding of host and pathogen determinants of LTBI and subsequent reactivation would benefit TB control efforts. Animal models of LTBI have been hampered mainly by an inability to achieve complete bacillary clearance. We have characterized a rabbit model of LTBI in which, similar to most humans, complete clearance of pulmonary Mtb infection and pathology occurs spontaneously. The evidence that Mtb-CDC1551-infected rabbits achieve LTBI, rather than sterilization, is based on the ability of the bacilli to be reactivated following immune suppression. The microarray experiments involves comparison of: 1) Changes in rabbit gene expression between Mtb-CDC1551 infected and uninfected animals at 2,4,8 and 12 weeks post infection. New Zealand White rabbits were infected with Mtb CDC1551 at 3.5log10 (on day 0). Lung tissue from Mtb-infected rabbits were isolated from uninfected (control) and at 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks post infection and used for total RNA extraction. Total rabbit lung RNA was used for microarray analysis to determine infection induced changes in host gene expression.
ORGANISM(S): Oryctolagus cuniculus
SUBMITTER: Selvakumar Subbian
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-39219 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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