Upskilling the cell therapy manufacturing workforce: design, implementation, and evaluation of a massive open online course.

Cell therapies have gained prominence as a promising therapeutic modality for treating a range of diseases. Despite the recent clinical successes of cell therapy products, very few formal training programs exist for cell therapy manufacturing. To meet the demand for a well-trained workforce, we assembled a team of university researchers and industry professionals to develop an online course on the principles and practice of cell therapy manufacturing.

Genetic basis for probiotic yeast phenotypes revealed by nanopore sequencing.

Probiotic yeasts are emerging as preventative and therapeutic solutions for disease. Often ingested via cultured foods and beverages, they can survive the harsh conditions of the gastrointestinal tract and adhere to it, where they provide nutrients and inhibit pathogens like Candida albicans. Yet, little is known of the genomic determinants of these beneficial traits.

Yeasts originating from fermented foods, their potential as probiotics and therapeutic implication for human health and disease.

Yeasts derived from fermented foods have historically been known for their organoleptic properties, enriching nutritional values, and producing bioactive metabolites with therapeutic potential. In this review, we discuss the yeast flora in fermented foods, their functional aspects in fermentation, as well as their probiotic and biotherapeutic properties. These yeasts have numerous physical and biochemical characteristics, such as larger cells as compared to bacteria, a rigid cell wall composed primarily of glucans and mannans, natural resistance to antibiotics, and the secretion of secondary metabolites that are both pleasing to the consumer and beneficial to the host's health and well-being.

mDrop-Seq: Massively Parallel Single-Cell RNA-Seq of and .

Advances in high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have been limited by technical challenges such as tough cell walls and low RNA quantity that prevent transcriptomic profiling of microbial species at throughput. We present microbial Drop-seq or mDrop-seq, a high-throughput scRNA-seq technique that is demonstrated on two yeast species, , a popular model organism, and , a common opportunistic pathogen. We benchmarked mDrop-seq for sensitivity and specificity and used it to profile 35,109 cells to detect variation in mRNA levels between them.

Secondary Metabolites from Food-Derived Yeasts Inhibit Virulence of Candida albicans.

A sparse number of available antifungal drugs, therapeutic side effects, and drug resistance are major challenges in current antifungal therapy to treat Candida albicans-associated infections. Here, we describe two food-derived yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Issatchenkia occidentalis, that inhibit virulence traits of C. albicans, including hyphal morphogenesis, biofilm formation, and adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells.

Using COVID-19 as a teaching tool in a time of remote learning: A workflow for bioinformatic approaches to identifying candidates for therapeutic and vaccine development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an urgent need for engaging computational alternatives to traditional laboratory exercises. Here we introduce a customizable and flexible workflow, designed with the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 in mind, as a means of reinforcing fundamental biology concepts using bioinformatics approaches. This workflow is accessible to a wide range of students in life science majors regardless of their prior bioinformatics knowledge, and all software is freely available, thus eliminating potential cost barriers.

Application of Probiotic Yeasts on Species Associated Infection.

Superficial and life-threatening invasive infections are a major clinical challenge in hospitalized and immuno-compromised patients. Emerging drug-resistance among species is exacerbated by the limited availability of antifungals and their associated side-effects. In the current review, we discuss the application of probiotic yeasts as a potential alternative/ combination therapy against infections.

Probiotic Yeasts Inhibit Virulence of Non Species.

Systemic infections of species pose a significant threat to public health. Toxicity associated with current therapies and emergence of resistant strains present major therapeutic challenges. Here, we report exploitation of the probiotic properties of two novel, food-derived yeasts, (strain KTP) and (strain ApC), as an alternative approach to combat widespread opportunistic fungal infections.

Coordinated host-pathogen transcriptional dynamics revealed using sorted subpopulations and single macrophages infected with Candida albicans.

The outcome of fungal infections depends on interactions with innate immune cells. Within a population of macrophages encountering Candida albicans, there are distinct host-pathogen trajectories; however, little is known about the molecular heterogeneity that governs these fates. Here we developed an experimental system to separate interaction stages and single macrophage cells infected with C.

as a Model Host to Monitor the Infection Processes.

has several advantages as an experimental host for the study of infectious diseases. Worms are easily maintained and propagated on bacterial lawns. The worms can be frozen for long term storage and still maintain viability years later.

A pre-therapeutic coating for medical devices that prevents the attachment of Candida albicans.

Background: Hospital acquired fungal infections are defined as "never events"-medical errors that should never have happened. Systemic Candida albicans infections results in 30-50% mortality rates. Typically, adhesion to abiotic medical devices and implants initiates such infections.

The evolution of drug resistance in clinical isolates of Candida albicans.

Candida albicans is both a member of the healthy human microbiome and a major pathogen in immunocompromised individuals. Infections are typically treated with azole inhibitors of ergosterol biosynthesis often leading to drug resistance. Studies in clinical isolates have implicated multiple mechanisms in resistance, but have focused on large-scale aberrations or candidate genes, and do not comprehensively chart the genetic basis of adaptation.

Host pathogen relations: exploring animal models for fungal pathogens.

Pathogenic fungi cause superficial infections but pose a significant public health risk when infections spread to deeper tissues, such as the lung. Within the last three decades, fungi have been identified as the leading cause of nosocomial infections making them the focus of research. This review outlines the model systems such as the mouse, zebrafish larvae, flies, and nematodes, as well as ex vivo and in vitro systems available to study common fungal pathogens.

Chemical screening identifies filastatin, a small molecule inhibitor of Candida albicans adhesion, morphogenesis, and pathogenesis.

Infection by pathogenic fungi, such as Candida albicans, begins with adhesion to host cells or implanted medical devices followed by biofilm formation. By high-throughput phenotypic screening of small molecules, we identified compounds that inhibit adhesion of C. albicans to polystyrene.

The role of Candida albicans AP-1 protein against host derived ROS in in vivo models of infection.

Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen of humans, causing mucosal infections that are difficult to eliminate and systemic infections that are often lethal primarily due to defects in the host's innate status. Here we demonstrate the utility of Caenorhabditis elegans, a model host to study innate immunity, by exploring the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a critical innate response against C. albicans infections.

Secondary metabolites and other small molecules as intercellular pathogenic signals.

Microorganisms often use small chemicals or secondary metabolites as informational cues to regulate gene expression. It is hypothesized that microorganisms exploit these signals to gain a competitive advantage. Here, we present examples of pathogens that use this strategy to exclude other microorganisms from the site of infection.

Aberrant synthesis of indole-3-acetic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae triggers morphogenic transition, a virulence trait of pathogenic fungi.

Many plant-associated microbes synthesize the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and several IAA biosynthetic pathways have been identified in microbes and plants. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has previously been shown to respond to IAA by inducing pseudohyphal growth. We observed that IAA also induced hyphal growth in the human pathogen Candida albicans and thus may function as a secondary metabolite signal that regulates virulence traits such as hyphal transition in pathogenic fungi.

A pathogenesis assay using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Caenorhabditis elegans reveals novel roles for yeast AP-1, Yap1, and host dual oxidase BLI-3 in fungal pathogenesis.

Treatment of systemic fungal infections is difficult because of the limited number of antimycotic drugs available. Thus, there is an immediate need for simple and innovative systems to assay the contribution of individual genes to fungal pathogenesis. We have developed a pathogenesis assay using Caenorhabditis elegans, an established model host, with Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the invading fungus.