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. Keywords: macroarray, variability of genome, Ureaplasma parvum
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:The impact of digestive physicochemical parameters on Cryptosporidium parvum transcriptome was analysed in a human and age-dependent context using a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model. The sophisticated TIM-1 in vitro model was used for a comparative analysis of C. parvum gene expression under the digestive conditions encountered in young children (from 6 months to 2 years) or in adults following the simulated ingestion of a glass of water contaminated with C. parvum oocysts. The C. parvum gene expression profile was analysed by RNA-sequencing in the inoculum, as well as the gastric and ileal effluents collected from the TIM-1 system. Results showed that time and compartment of digestion lead to the strongest modification of parasite transcriptome. Accordingly, the highest number of differentially expressed genes was observed in parasite samples collected in child or adult ileal effluents between 120 and 180 min of digestion, where invasive stages (sporozoites) are predominant.