Pseudomonas aeruginosa Outer Membrane Vesicles Triggered by Human Mucosal Fluid and Lysozyme Can Prime Host Tissue Surfaces for Bacterial Adhesion.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality that often targets epithelial surfaces. Host immunocompromise, or the presence of indwelling medical devices, including contact lenses, can predispose to infection. While medical devices are known to accumulate bacterial biofilms, it is not well understood why resistant epithelial surfaces become susceptible to P.

Inactivation of human enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16 and hand, foot, and mouth disease.

Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) are the two major etiological agents in major outbreaks of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Transmission of these viruses is facilitated by prolonged environmental survival and their resistance to biocides, and effective disinfection is crucial to interrupt the cycle of environmental spread. We tested the virucidal efficacy of sodium hypochlorite against both EV71 and CVA16, performed according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) test criteria and methods approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Development of real-time in vivo imaging of device-related Staphylococcus epidermidis infection in mice and influence of animal immune status on susceptibility to infection.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is the leading cause of hospital-acquired device-related infections, but there is a lack of suitable methods to investigate the pathogenesis of S. epidermidis infection. We created a bioluminescent strain of S.

Bioluminescent imaging of bacterial biofilm infections in vivo.

Whole body biophotonic imaging (BPI) is a technique that has contributed significantly to the way researchers study bacterial pathogens and develop pre-clinical treatments to combat their ensuing infections in vivo. Not only does this approach allow disease profiles and drug efficacy studies to be conducted non-destructively in live animals over the entire course of the disease, but in many cases, it enables investigators to observe disease profiles that could otherwise easily be missed using conventional methodologies. The principles of this technique are that bacterial pathogens engineered to express bioluminescence (visible light) can be readily monitored from outside of the living animal using specialized low-light imaging equipment, enabling their movement, expansion and treatment to be seen completely non-invasively.

Reduction of astrogliosis by early treatment of pneumococcal meningitis measured by simultaneous imaging, in vivo, of the pathogen and host response.

We developed a method for simultaneous in vivo biophotonic monitoring of pneumococcal meningitis and the accompanying neuronal injury in live transgenic mice. Streptococcus pneumoniae engineered for bioluminescence (lux) was used for direct visualization of disease progression and antibiotic treatment in a mouse model of meningitis. The host response was monitored in transgenic mice containing an inducible firefly luciferase (luc) reporter gene under transcriptional control of the mouse glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter.