14/2009 - Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hube
Host pathogen interactions of human pathogenic yeast

Abstract
Candida yeasts are part of the normal microbial flora but frequently cause superficial or even life threatening systemic infections, especially in individuals with an impaired immune system. During these infections, the fungi need to adapt to radically changing environments and almost permanently interact with host cells. In our research group we aim to identify and characterise factors involved in the interaction with host cells and in the ability of these fungi to cause diseases by using methods of cellular and molecular biology, microbiology and biochemistry. For example, transcriptional profiling of C. albicans during interaction with host cells and tissue in various models of infection (blood-stream, oral infection and liver invasion) has revealed a large number of fungal genes specifically expressed during these processes. However, many of these genes encode for proteins with unknown function.
In this project, the transcriptional profile of C. albicans during interaction with host cells will be extended to other tissues, such as enterocytes or endothelial cells, both from cell culture and in vivo samples. Unknown function genes, in particular, those which are unique for pathogenic fungi, will be selected and disrupted to produce knockout mutants. The obtained deletion mutants, the gene and the gene product will then be analysed using existing infection models and a combination of computer-based, histological, microscopic, cellular, biochemical, transcriptional and molecular approaches.
 

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