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Bertorello S, Cei F, Fink D, Niccolai E, Amedei A. The Future Exploring of Gut Microbiome-Immunity Interactions: From In Vivo/Vitro Models to In Silico Innovations. Microorganisms 2024; 12:1828. [PMID: 39338502 PMCID: PMC11434319 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12091828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2024] [Revised: 08/29/2024] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Investigating the complex interactions between microbiota and immunity is crucial for a fruitful understanding progress of human health and disease. This review assesses animal models, next-generation in vitro models, and in silico approaches that are used to decipher the microbiome-immunity axis, evaluating their strengths and limitations. While animal models provide a comprehensive biological context, they also raise ethical and practical concerns. Conversely, modern in vitro models reduce animal involvement but require specific costs and materials. When considering the environmental impact of these models, in silico approaches emerge as promising for resource reduction, but they require robust experimental validation and ongoing refinement. Their potential is significant, paving the way for a more sustainable and ethical future in microbiome-immunity research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bertorello
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (F.C.); (D.F.); (A.A.)
| | - Francesco Cei
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (F.C.); (D.F.); (A.A.)
| | - Dorian Fink
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (F.C.); (D.F.); (A.A.)
| | - Elena Niccolai
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (F.C.); (D.F.); (A.A.)
- Laboratorio Congiunto MIA-LAB (Microbiome-Immunity Axis Research for a Circular Health), University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy
| | - Amedeo Amedei
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (F.C.); (D.F.); (A.A.)
- Laboratorio Congiunto MIA-LAB (Microbiome-Immunity Axis Research for a Circular Health), University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy
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Ignatiou A, Pitsouli C. Host-diet-microbiota interplay in intestinal nutrition and health. FEBS Lett 2024. [PMID: 38946050 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.14966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
The intestine is populated by a complex and dynamic assortment of microbes, collectively called gut microbiota, that interact with the host and contribute to its metabolism and physiology. Diet is considered a key regulator of intestinal microbiota, as ingested nutrients interact with and shape the resident microbiota composition. Furthermore, recent studies underscore the interplay of dietary and microbiota-derived nutrients, which directly impinge on intestinal stem cells regulating their turnover to ensure a healthy gut barrier. Although advanced sequencing methodologies have allowed the characterization of the human gut microbiome, mechanistic studies assessing diet-microbiota-host interactions depend on the use of genetically tractable models, such as Drosophila melanogaster. In this review, we first discuss the similarities between the human and fly intestines and then we focus on the effects of diet and microbiota on nutrient-sensing signaling cascades controlling intestinal stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, as well as disease. Finally, we underline the use of the Drosophila model in assessing the role of microbiota in gut-related pathologies and in understanding the mechanisms that mediate different whole-body manifestations of gut dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Ignatiou
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Chrysoula Pitsouli
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
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Miles J, Lozano GL, Rajendhran J, Stabb EV, Handelsman J, Broderick NA. Massively parallel mutant selection identifies genetic determinants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization of Drosophila melanogaster. mSystems 2024; 9:e0131723. [PMID: 38380971 PMCID: PMC10949475 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01317-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is recognized for its ability to colonize diverse habitats and cause disease in a variety of hosts, including plants, invertebrates, and mammals. Understanding how this bacterium is able to occupy wide-ranging niches is important for deciphering its ecology. We used transposon sequencing [Tn-Seq, also known as insertion sequencing (INSeq)] to identify genes in P. aeruginosa that contribute to fitness during the colonization of Drosophila melanogaster. Our results reveal a suite of critical factors, including those that contribute to polysaccharide production, DNA repair, metabolism, and respiration. Comparison of candidate genes with fitness determinants discovered in previous studies on P. aeruginosa identified several genes required for colonization and virulence determinants that are conserved across hosts and tissues. This analysis provides evidence for both the conservation of function of several genes across systems, as well as host-specific functions. These findings, which represent the first use of transposon sequencing of a gut pathogen in Drosophila, demonstrate the power of Tn-Seq in the fly model system and advance the existing knowledge of intestinal pathogenesis by D. melanogaster, revealing bacterial colonization determinants that contribute to a comprehensive portrait of P. aeruginosa lifestyles across habitats.IMPORTANCEDrosophila melanogaster is a powerful model for understanding host-pathogen interactions. Research with this system has yielded notable insights into mechanisms of host immunity and defense, many of which emerged from the analysis of bacterial mutants defective for well-characterized virulence factors. These foundational studies-and advances in high-throughput sequencing of transposon mutants-support unbiased screens of bacterial mutants in the fly. To investigate mechanisms of host-pathogen interplay and exploit the tractability of this model host, we used a high-throughput, genome-wide mutant analysis to find genes that enable the pathogen P. aeruginosa to colonize the fly. Our analysis reveals critical mediators of P. aeruginosa establishment in its host, some of which are required across fly and mouse systems. These findings demonstrate the utility of massively parallel mutant analysis and provide a platform for aligning the fly toolkit with comprehensive bacterial genomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Miles
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Graduate Program in Microbiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Gabriel L. Lozano
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jeyaprakash Rajendhran
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Eric V. Stabb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Jo Handelsman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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Miles J, Lozano GL, Rajendhran J, Stabb EV, Handelsman J, Broderick NA. Massively parallel mutant selection identifies genetic determinants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization of Drosophila melanogaster. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.20.567573. [PMID: 38045230 PMCID: PMC10690197 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.20.567573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is recognized for its ability to colonize diverse habitats and cause disease in a variety of hosts, including plants, invertebrates, and mammals. Understanding how this bacterium is able to occupy wide-ranging niches is important for deciphering its ecology. We used transposon sequencing (Tn-Seq, also known as INSeq) to identify genes in P. aeruginosa that contribute to fitness during colonization of Drosophila melanogaster. Our results reveal a suite of critical factors, including those that contribute to polysaccharide production, DNA repair, metabolism, and respiration. Comparison of candidate genes with fitness determinants discovered in previous studies of P. aeruginosa identified several genes required for colonization and virulence determinants that are conserved across hosts and tissues. This analysis provides evidence for both the conservation of function of several genes across systems, as well as host-specific functions. These findings, which represent the first use of transposon sequencing of a gut pathogen in Drosophila, demonstrate the power of Tn-Seq in the fly model system and advance existing knowledge of intestinal pathogenesis by D. melanogaster, revealing bacterial colonization determinants that contribute to a comprehensive portrait of P. aeruginosa lifestyles across habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Miles
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Graduate Program in Microbiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gabriel L. Lozano
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Current address: Division of Infectious Diseases and Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jeyaprakash Rajendhran
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Current address: Department of Genetics, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, TN, India
| | - Eric V. Stabb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jo Handelsman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Current address: Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
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Hastings CJ, Keledjian MV, Musselman LP, Marques CNH. Delayed host mortality and immune response upon infection with P. aeruginosa persister cells. Infect Immun 2023; 91:e0024623. [PMID: 37732789 PMCID: PMC10580972 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00246-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic infections are a heavy burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Persister cells are thought to be largely responsible for chronic infection due to their tolerance to antimicrobials and recalcitrance to innate immunity factors. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common and clinically relevant pathogen that contains stereotypical persister cells. Despite their importance in chronic infection, there have been limited efforts to study persister cell infections in vivo. Drosophila melanogaster has a well-described innate immune response similar to that of vertebrates and is a good candidate for the development of an in vivo model of infection for persister cells. Similar to what is observed in other bacterial strains, in this work we found that infection with P. aeruginosa persister cells resulted in a delayed mortality phenotype in Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and D. melanogaster compared to infection with regular cells. An in-depth characterization of infected D. melanogaster found that bacterial loads differed between persister and regular cells' infections during the early stages. Furthermore, hemocyte activation and antimicrobial peptide expression were delayed/reduced in persister infections over the same time course, indicating an initial suppression of, or inability to elicit, the fly immune response. Overall, our findings support the use of D. melanogaster as a model in which to study persister cells in vivo, where this bacterial subpopulation exhibits delayed virulence and an attenuated immune response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody J. Hastings
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
- Binghamton Biofilm Research Center, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
| | - Maya V. Keledjian
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
- Binghamton Biofilm Research Center, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
| | | | - Cláudia N. H. Marques
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
- Binghamton Biofilm Research Center, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA
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Abstract
The gut epithelia of virtually all animals harbor complex microbial communities that play an important role in maintaining immune and cellular homeostasis. Gut microbiota have evolutionarily adapted to the host gut environment, serving as key regulators of intestinal stem cells to promote a healthy gut barrier and modulate epithelial self-renewal. Disruption of these populations has been associated with inflammatory disorders or cancerous lesions of the intestine. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling gut-microbe interactions are only partially understood due to the high diversity and biologically dynamic nature of these microorganisms. This article reviews the current knowledge on Drosophila gut microbiota and its role in signaling pathways that are crucial for the induction of distinct homeostatic and immune responses. Thanks to the genetic tractability of Drosophila and its cultivable and simple microbiota, this association model offers new efficient tools for investigating the crosstalk between a host and its microbiota while providing a framework for a better understanding of the ecological and evolutionary roles of the microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghada Tafesh-Edwards
- Infection and Innate Immunity Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
| | - Ioannis Eleftherianos
- Infection and Innate Immunity Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
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7
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Lipopolysaccharide -mediated resistance to host antimicrobial peptides and hemocyte-derived reactive-oxygen species are the major Providencia alcalifaciens virulence factors in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Pathog 2022; 18:e1010825. [PMID: 36084158 PMCID: PMC9491580 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacteria from the genus Providencia are ubiquitous Gram-negative opportunistic pathogens, causing “travelers’ diarrhea”, urinary tract, and other nosocomial infections in humans. Some Providencia strains have also been isolated as natural pathogens of Drosophila melanogaster. Despite clinical relevance and extensive use in Drosophila immunity research, little is known about Providencia virulence mechanisms and the corresponding insect host defenses. To close this knowledge gap, we investigated the virulence factors of a representative Providencia species—P. alcalifaciens which is highly virulent to fruit flies and amenable to genetic manipulations. We generated a P. alcalifaciens transposon mutant library and performed an unbiased forward genetics screen in vivo for attenuated mutants. Our screen uncovered 23 mutants with reduced virulence. The vast majority of them had disrupted genes linked to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) synthesis or modifications. These LPS mutants were sensitive to cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in vitro and their virulence was restored in Drosophila mutants lacking most AMPs. Thus, LPS-mediated resistance to host AMPs is one of the virulence strategies of P. alcalifaciens. Another subset of P. alcalifaciens attenuated mutants exhibited increased susceptibility to reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitro and their virulence was rescued by chemical scavenging of ROS in flies prior to infection. Using genetic analysis, we found that the enzyme Duox specifically in hemocytes is the source of bactericidal ROS targeting P. alcalifaciens. Consistently, the virulence of ROS-sensitive P. alcalifaciens mutants was rescued in flies with Duox knockdown in hemocytes. Therefore, these genes function as virulence factors by helping bacteria to counteract the ROS immune response. Our reciprocal analysis of host-pathogen interactions between D. melanogaster and P. alcalifaciens identified that AMPs and hemocyte-derived ROS are the major defense mechanisms against P. alcalifaciens, while the ability of the pathogen to resist these host immune responses is its major virulence mechanism. Thus, our work revealed a host-pathogen conflict mediated by ROS and AMPs. Pathogens express special molecules or structures called virulence factors to successfully infect a host. By identifying these factors, we can learn how hosts fight and how pathogens cause infections. Here, we identified virulence factors of the human and fruit fly pathogen Providencia alcalifaciens, by infecting flies with a series of mutants of this pathogen. In this way, we detected 23 mutants that were less virulent. Some of these less virulent mutants were hypersensitive to fruit fly immune defense molecules called antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), while others were sensitive to reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the immune cells. Notably, AMPs-sensitive mutants remained virulent in a Drosophila mutant that lacks AMPs, while pathogens sensitive to oxidative stress retained their virulence in a fruit fly mutant devoid of oxidative species. These results suggest that the ability of P. alcalifaciens to resist two major host immune molecules, namely AMPs and ROS, is the major virulence mechanism. Overall, our systematic analysis of P. alcalifaciens virulence factors has identified the major defense mechanisms of the fruit fly against this pathogen and the bacterial mechanisms to combat these immune responses.
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Abstract
Two areas of research that have greatly increased in attention are: dipterans as vectors and the microbes they are capable of vectoring. Because it is the front-end of the fly that first encounters these microbes, this review focuses on the legs, mouthparts, and foregut, which includes the crop as major structures involved in dipteran vectoring ability. The legs and mouthparts are generally involved in mechanical transmission of microbes. However, the crop is involved in more than just mechanical transmission, for it is within the lumen of the crop that microbes are taken up with the meal of the fly, stored, and it is within the lumen that horizontal transmission of bacterial resistance has been demonstrated. In addition to storage of microbes, the crop is also involved in depositing the microbes via a process known as regurgitation. Various aspects of crop regulation are discussed and specific examples of crop involvement with microorganisms are discussed. The importance of biofilm and biofilm formation are presented, as well as, some physical parameters of the crop that might either facilitate or inhibit biofilm formation. Finally, there is a brief discussion of dipteran model systems for studying crop microbe interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- John G Stoffolano
- Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States
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Troha K, Buchon N. Methods for the study of innate immunity in Drosophila melanogaster. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2019; 8:e344. [PMID: 30993906 DOI: 10.1002/wdev.344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Revised: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
From flies to humans, many components of the innate immune system have been conserved during metazoan evolution. This foundational observation has allowed us to develop Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, into a powerful model to study innate immunity in animals. Thanks to an ever-growing arsenal of genetic tools, an easily manipulated genome, and its winning disposition, Drosophila is now employed to study not only basic molecular mechanisms of pathogen recognition and immune signaling, but also the nature of physiological responses activated in the host by microbial challenge and how dysregulation of these processes contributes to disease. Here, we present a collection of methods and protocols to challenge the fly with an assortment of microbes, both systemically and orally, and assess its humoral, cellular, and epithelial response to infection. Our review covers techniques for measuring the reaction to microbial infection both qualitatively and quantitatively. Specifically, we describe survival, bacterial load, BLUD (a measure of disease tolerance), phagocytosis, melanization, clotting, and ROS production assays, as well as efficient protocols to collect hemolymph and measure immune gene expression. We also offer an updated catalog of online resources and a collection of popular reporter lines and mutants to facilitate research efforts. This article is categorized under: Technologies > Analysis of Cell, Tissue, and Animal Phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katia Troha
- Department of Entomology, Cornell Institute of Host-Microbe Interactions and Disease, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | - Nicolas Buchon
- Department of Entomology, Cornell Institute of Host-Microbe Interactions and Disease, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
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Lufan W, John GSJ, Lynne M. Development of the fly crop vessel bioassay for fly/microbial studies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [DOI: 10.5897/ajmr2017.8586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
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Regulation of acetyl-CoA synthetase transcription by the CrbS/R two-component system is conserved in genetically diverse environmental pathogens. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177825. [PMID: 28542616 PMCID: PMC5436829 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 05/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The CrbS/R two-component signal transduction system is a conserved regulatory mechanism through which specific Gram-negative bacteria control acetate flux into primary metabolic pathways. CrbS/R governs expression of acetyl-CoA synthase (acsA), an enzyme that converts acetate to acetyl-CoA, a metabolite at the nexus of the cell’s most important energy-harvesting and biosynthetic reactions. During infection, bacteria can utilize this system to hijack host acetate metabolism and alter the course of colonization and pathogenesis. In toxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae, CrbS/R-dependent expression of acsA is required for virulence in an arthropod model. Here, we investigate the function of the CrbS/R system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas entomophila, and non-toxigenic V. cholerae strains. We demonstrate that its role in acetate metabolism is conserved; this system regulates expression of the acsA gene and is required for growth on acetate as a sole carbon source. As a first step towards describing the mechanism of signaling through this pathway, we identify residues and domains that may be critical for phosphotransfer. We further demonstrate that although CrbS, the putative hybrid sensor kinase, carries both a histidine kinase domain and a receiver domain, the latter is not required for acsA transcription. In order to determine whether our findings are relevant to pathogenesis, we tested our strains in a Drosophila model of oral infection previously employed for the study of acetate-dependent virulence by V. cholerae. We show that non-toxigenic V. cholerae strains lacking CrbS or CrbR are significantly less virulent than are wild-type strains, while P. aeruginosa and P. entomophila lacking CrbS or CrbR are fully pathogenic. Together, the data suggest that the CrbS/R system plays a central role in acetate metabolism in V. cholerae, P. aeruginosa, and P. entomophila. However, each microbe’s unique environmental adaptations and pathogenesis strategies may dictate conditions under which CrbS/R-mediated acs expression is most critical.
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Lorenz A, Pawar V, Häussler S, Weiss S. Insights into host-pathogen interactions from state-of-the-art animal models of respiratory Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. FEBS Lett 2016; 590:3941-3959. [PMID: 27730639 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen that can cause acute respiratory infections in immunocompetent patients or chronic infections in immunocompromised individuals and in patients with cystic fibrosis. When acquiring the chronic infection state, bacteria are encapsulated within biofilm structures enabling them to withstand diverse environmental assaults, including immune reactions and antimicrobial therapy. Understanding the molecular interactions within the bacteria, as well as with the host or other bacteria, is essential for developing innovative treatment strategies. Such knowledge might be accumulated in vitro. However, it is ultimately necessary to confirm these findings in vivo. In the present Review, we describe state-of-the-art in vivo models that allow studying P. aeruginosa infections in molecular detail. The portrayed mammalian models exclusively focus on respiratory infections. The data obtained by alternative animal models which lack lung tissue, often provide molecular insights that are easily transferable to mammals. Importantly, these surrogate in vivo systems reveal complex molecular interactions of P. aeruginosa with the host. Herein, we also provide a critical assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of such models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Lorenz
- Institute for Molecular Bacteriology, Center of Clinical and Experimental Infection Research, TWINCORE GmbH, A Joint Venture of the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Germany
| | - Vinay Pawar
- Department of Molecular Bacteriology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.,Department of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.,Institute of Immunology, Medical School Hannover, Germany
| | - Susanne Häussler
- Institute for Molecular Bacteriology, Center of Clinical and Experimental Infection Research, TWINCORE GmbH, A Joint Venture of the Hannover Medical School and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Germany.,Department of Molecular Bacteriology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Siegfried Weiss
- Department of Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany.,Institute of Immunology, Medical School Hannover, Germany
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Koskella B. Research highlights for issue 6: the applicability of model system research. Evol Appl 2014; 7:607-8. [PMID: 25067945 PMCID: PMC4105913 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Erkosar B, Leulier F. Transient adult microbiota, gut homeostasis and longevity: Novel insights from the Drosophila
model. FEBS Lett 2014; 588:4250-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2014.06.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2014] [Revised: 06/11/2014] [Accepted: 06/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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