Project description:Our object is to characterize the distinguish gene enrichment group in skin of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae)-infected footpads compared to that of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) non-infected footpads.
Project description:Our object is to characterize the distinguish gene enrichment group in skin of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae)-infected footpads compared to that of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) non-infected footpads. One-condition experiment, Skin of M. leprae non-infected footpads (control) vs. Skin of M. leprae infected footpads (sample). Biological replicates: 3 control and 3 sample, independently grown and harvested from isolator. One replicate per array.
Project description:Our goal is to understand the mechanism of granuloma formation in molecular level using Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae)-infected footpads.
Project description:Our goal is to understand the mechanism of granuloma formation in molecular level using Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae)-infected footpads. One-condition experiment, M. leprae non-infected footpads (control) vs. M. leprae infected footpads (sample). Biological replicates: 6 control, 6 (sample), independently grown and harvested from isolator. One replicate per array.
Project description:Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, an obligate intracellular pathogen has the ability to survive and grow for extended periods within phagocytes and Schwann cells. M. leprae genome analysis predicts a highly degraded genome resulting in a significant loss of its genomic coding capacity. Detailed dynamics of carbon sources for energy utilization and growth of M. leprae is unclear. This study, therefore, presents M. leprae transcriptome during in vivo growth and ex vivo stationary phases, and explores metabolic pathways relevant to its growth from global gene expression data. This report provides a glimpse of some of M. leprae nutritional requirements for growth, which most likely, needs to be supplemented, in an axenic growth media.
Project description:The initial interaction between a microbial pathogen and the host immune response influences the outcome of the battle between the host and the foreign invader. Leprosy, caused by the obligate intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium leprae, provides a model to study relevant human immune responses. Previous studies have adopted a targeted approach to investigate host response to M. leprae infection, focusing on the induction of specific molecules and pathways. By measuring the host transcriptome triggered by M. leprae infection of human macrophages, we were able to detect a host gene signature 24–48 hours after infection characterized by specific innate immune pathways involving the cell fate mechanisms autophagy and apoptosis. The top upstream regulator in the M. leprae-induced gene signature was NUPR1, which is found in the M. leprae-induced cell fate pathways. The induction of NUPR1 by M. leprae was dependent on the production of the type I interferon (IFN), IFN-β. Furthermore, NUPR1 mRNA and protein were upregulated in the skin lesions from patients with the multibacillary form of leprosy. Together, these data indicate that M. leprae induces a cell fate program which includes NUPR1 as part of the host response in the progressive form of leprosy
Project description:Mineralised dental plaque (calculus) has proven to be an excellent source of ancient biomolecules. In this study we present a Mycobacterium leprae genome (6.6-fold), the causative agent of leprosy, recovered via shotgun sequencing of 16th century human dental calculus from an individual from Trondheim, Norway. Moreover, ancient mycobacterial peptides were retrieved via mass spectrometry-based proteomics, further validating the presence of the pathogen. M. leprae can readily be detected in the oral cavity and associated mucosal membranes, which likely contributed to it being incorporated into this individual’s dental calculus. This individual showed some possible, but not definitive, evidence of skeletal lesions associated with early stage leprosy. This study is the first known example of successful multi-omics retrieval of M. leprae from archaeological dental calculus. Furthermore, we offer new insights into dental calculus as an alternative sample source to bones or teeth for detecting and molecularly characterizing M. leprae in individuals from the archaeological record.
