Analysis of Coxiella burnetii mediated modulation of host cells during infection
Abstract
Scope and Method of Study: Scope - To determine Coxiella burnetii mediated modulation of host cell during infection. Methods for microbiological and molecular analyses include: eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell culture, Ribonucleic acid (RNA) isolation, Microarray, Real time quantitative polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR), reverse transcriptase PCR, indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA), immune-electron microscopy, Western blotting, etc. Findings and Conclusions: Collectively, these data illustrate that C. burnetii proteins are actively targeting and regulating the expression of specific host cell genes and pathways. Thirty-six specific host cells genes modulated by C. burnetii proteins were discovered. These findings led to the investigation of host NF-κB activation in C. burnetii infected cells. We determined that over the time course of infection C. burnetii modulates the host cell NF-κB activation, which might aid the bacterium to preserve the host cell from death and evade any immune response surmounted by the host. Additionally we have discovered that C. burnetii can effectively infect and grow in Ixodes scapularis-derived IDE8 cultured tick cells. Bacteria were able to invade and replicate, express T4SS genes associated with virulence, and retain their ability to re-infect mammalian cells.
Collections
- OSU Dissertations [11222]