Project description:Mycobacterium marinum infection in zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been widely used to study human tuberculosis because the bacteria causing these two diseases are close relatives. We studied the zebrafish immune response to M. marinum infection through a whole-genome level transcriptome analysis. As expected based on the literature, our results showed the induction of genes coding proteins associated to immune signaling, cell migration and acute phase response indicating that the immune response to M. marinum infection in zebrafish is similar than the response to tuberculosis causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis in humans.
Project description:Hantavirus infection causing zoonotic diseases with a high mortality rate in humans has long been a global public health concern. Over the past decades, accumulating evidences suggest that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key regulatory roles in innate immunity. However, the involvement of host lncRNAs in hantaviral control remains uncharacterized. To explore the potential role of long non-coding RNAs in host innate immune responses, DGE analysis of HUVECs for whole genome profiling was performed at 24 hours post HTNV infection.
Project description:Human mucosal surfaces contain a wide range of microorganisms. The biological effects of these organisms are largely unknown. Large-scale metagenomic sequencing is emerging as a method to identify novel microbes. Unexpectedly, we identified DNA sequences homologous to virus ATCV-1, an algal virus not previously known to infect humans, in oropharyngeal samples obtained from healthy adults. The presence of ATCV-1 was associated with a modest but measurable decrease in cognitive functioning. A relationship between ATCV-1 and cognitive functioning was confirmed in a mouse model, which also indicated that exposure to ATCV-1 resulted in changes in gene expression within the brain. Our study indicates that viruses in the environment not thought to infect humans can have biological effects.
Project description:It has been reported that Cryptosporidium parvum, a species of a protozoan frequently isolated from humans and animals, is able to induce digestive adenocarcinoma in a rodent model. Consistently, some epidemiological studies have reported an association with cryptosporidiosis in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma. However, the correlation between cryptosporidiosis and human digestive cancer remains unclear at this time, and it is not known whether this intracellular parasite, considered an opportunistic agent, is able to induce gastrointestinal malignancies in humans. In order to add new arguments for a probable association between cryptosporidiosis and digestive human cancer, the main aim of this study is to determine prevalence and to identify species of Cryptosporidium among a French digestive cancer population.
Project description:Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infects alveolar macrophages (AMs) causing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), the more frequent form of the disease. Less frequently, Mtb disseminates to many other organs and tissues resulting in different extrapulmonary forms of TB. Nevertheless, very few studies have addressed the global mRNA response of human AMs, in particular from humans with the active form of the disease. Strikingly, almost no studies have addressed the response to infection with Mtb by human extrapulmonary macrophages.