The model system C.elegans and the identification of targets of anti-infective molecules.
Many human pathogens (both bacterial and fungal) cause severe intestinal infection in C.elegans that results in worm death. Intestinal epithelial cells (or IECs) of nematodes share with mammalian IECs morphological and functional features, as cell polarity and the presence of microvilli on the intestinal lumen surface.
Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are opportunistic human pathogens whose infections have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The development of new antimicrobial compounds is becoming even more a question of great relevance.
Is well known that Candida albicans, as well as other Candida species, are ingested by the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and can establish a persistent lethal infection in the worm. Moreover, this model of pathogenesis replays key aspects of the fungus infections, such as hyphae development, occurring in mammalian hosts. Naturally occurring membrane-active cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) serve as attractive candidates for the development of new therapeutic agents. Amphibian skin is one of the richest sources for such peptides whose in vivo activity against the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated the antifungal action in vivo of CAMPs from frog skin (e.g., temporins and esculentin fragments) on the ATCC 10231 strain of C. albicans utilizing Caenorhabditis elegans as minihost model.
Recently, nanosized particles, displaying unique physical and chemical properties, represent increasingly important materials in the development of novel nanodevices which can be used in numerous biological, biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Here we explore the antimicrobial activity against P.aeruginosa of some carbon-based nanomaterials.
Using a whole-animal model for the screening of putative antimicrobial compounds will help studying not only the toxicity/efficiency of these molecules but also the molecular mechanisms of responses taking place in a host-pathogen system that undergoes an external treatment.