Project description:Global endemic infections, such as leptospirosis, rickettsial diseases, and dengue infections present diagnostic challenges, posing a dilemma for antibiotic stewardship worldwide. The goal of this project was to identify accurate transcriptional classifiers able to discriminate between bacterial and viral illness of global pathogens.
Project description:A method based on a modified broad-range PCR and an oligonucleotide microarray for the simultaneous detection and identification of 12 bacterial pathogens at the species level.
Project description:A method based on a modified broad-range PCR and an oligonucleotide microarray for the simultaneous detection and identification of 12 bacterial pathogens at the species level. The feasibility of this assay in routine diagnostic testing was evaluated using 146 blood culture positive and 40 blood culture negative samples. The processed data are composed of ORGANISM NAME or NEGATIVE answer depending if the pathogen is detected in the sample or not. See supplementary file linked below.
Project description:Meningitis is a complex disease which can be caused by infection with either viral or bacterial pathogens. Viral meningitis is usually a sterile self-limiting disease with a good clinical prognosis, while bacterial meningitis is a potentially more serious disease with a higher mortality rate. Early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis is of paramount importance, as intervention with antimicrobial therapy increases the likelihood of a favourable clinical outcome. Routine diagnosis in many laboratories is still dependent to some degree on traditional methods e.g. culture, though molecular methods have been developed which can give a shorter time to diagnosis. However, there is not as yet a single test format that can detect all bacterial pathogens capable of causing meningitis. In addition, many tests e.g. real-time PCR have a finite limit for multiplexing and do not provide additional information such as strain or serogroup which is useful during outbreaks and for retrospective epidemiological surveillance. To this end we have developed a microarray probe set for detection of meningitis-associated bacterial pathogens including those in the N. meningitidis serogroups. Here we demonstrate utility of this array in specific detection of represented bacterial species and strains and in detection of pathogen signals in cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with suspected bacterial meningitis. This method shows promise for development as a diagnostic tool; however, we discuss the technical issues encountered and suggest mechanisms to improve resolution of pathogen-specific signals in complex clinical samples. We designed as part of a larger pan-pathogen microarray a sub-set of probes to meningitis-associated bacterial pathogens. We present here data confirming the pathogen-specificity of many of these probes and their potential use in clinical diagnosis through testing on a small number of patient clinical samples using human DNA and no added nucleic acid controls. These data are from single channel Cy3-labelled nucleic acids. Four technical replicates for each feature are included on the array.
Project description:Transcritome study of C.elegans exposed to multiple, different bacterial pathogens. Experiments were performed in set-replicates of either 3 or 5.<br> There are 3 for samples: Aeromonas hydrophila, Enterococcus faecalis, Erwinia carotovora and Photorhabdus luminescens. <br> There are 5 for samples: Serratia marcesens and Escherichia coli (control).<br>
Project description:Meningitis is a complex disease which can be caused by infection with either viral or bacterial pathogens. Viral meningitis is usually a sterile self-limiting disease with a good clinical prognosis, while bacterial meningitis is a potentially more serious disease with a higher mortality rate. Early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis is of paramount importance, as intervention with antimicrobial therapy increases the likelihood of a favourable clinical outcome. Routine diagnosis in many laboratories is still dependent to some degree on traditional methods e.g. culture, though molecular methods have been developed which can give a shorter time to diagnosis. However, there is not as yet a single test format that can detect all bacterial pathogens capable of causing meningitis. In addition, many tests e.g. real-time PCR have a finite limit for multiplexing and do not provide additional information such as strain or serogroup which is useful during outbreaks and for retrospective epidemiological surveillance. To this end we have developed a microarray probe set for detection of meningitis-associated bacterial pathogens including those in the N. meningitidis serogroups. Here we demonstrate utility of this array in specific detection of represented bacterial species and strains and in detection of pathogen signals in cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients with suspected bacterial meningitis. This method shows promise for development as a diagnostic tool; however, we discuss the technical issues encountered and suggest mechanisms to improve resolution of pathogen-specific signals in complex clinical samples.
Project description:Initial transcriptional response of human peripheral monocytes infected with a set of three gram-positive bacterial pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae). Monocytes were isolated from five probands.
Project description:Pathogenic bacteria encounter a variety of stressful host environments during infection. Their responses to meet these challenges protect them from deadly damages and aid in adaption to harmful environments. Bacterial products critical for this protection are therefore interesting as suitable targets for new antimicrobials. To shed light on the complex array of molecular pathways involved in bacterial stress responses we challenged 32 diverse human pathogenic bacteria to 11 infection related stress conditions and catalogued their transcriptomes. Initial analyses of the comprehensive data set showed that beside coding RNAs, known and yet unknown putative novel ncRNAs comprise a significant part of the responses. We also computed a scores for all genes to be used for predictions for their probability to be regulated at certain stresses. The core scores enabled identification of universal stress responders representing conserved gene products involved in basic mechanisms important for responses to multiple stresses. Further, the environmental specific core scores made it possible to predict functions of yet non-characterized and also hypothetical gene products. All data are collected in the PATHOGENEX interactive RNA atlas, which is made available to the research community providing ample opportunities for discovering new aspects of regulatory networks in pathogenic bacteria as well as identification of novel players critical for bacterial infectivity and maintenance of infections.