Abstract Candida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen that grows in yeast and hyphal forms in the human gut. C. albicans causes mucosal and cutaneous diseases that can result in significant mortality following systematic infections and it also exhibits drug resistance. Zebrafish have been an excellent model to investigate C. albicans infections because of their transparency and the availability of many transgenic lines. However, there is a limitation in using zebrafish as a model because the fish embryos cannot survive at 37°C therefore it is not suitable for studying Candida infections at physiological relevant human body temperature. In this thesis, the normal embryonic development of Arabian killifish (A. dispar) is investigated, revealing that embryogenesis was divided into 32 stages based on diagnostic patterns of development. A. dispar can also found to tolerate a wide range of temperatures and salinities. This suggests that A. dispar could be developed as a novel model to investigate host-pathogen interactions. The tolerance of A. dispar to high temperatures may in part be attributable to brown pigment cells with a highly fluorescent character that may have developed to allow the fish to adapt to live within extreme environmental conditions with strong sunlight and a wide range of temperatures (Chapter 3). In terms of Candida infections, this study examined A. dispar as a model to test C. albicans pathogenicity. The survival of A. dispar embryos following Candida infection showed a dose dependent relationship. We also found that A. dispar can survive longer than zebrafish after infection. Furthermore, C. albicans cells were observed to undergo a transition from yeast to hyphae at 37°C. An investigation of the ability of mutant strains of C. albicans with defects in cell wall mannosylation revealed a significant impact on virulence, host mortality, and the fishes’ immune response. The present study found that although the deletion of O- and N-mannan from the cell wall of C. albicans, affected fungal burden (attenuation), and the survival of the infected embryos per se was significantly decreased in the infections of the mutant strains compared to the WT. This data confirms the importance of the mannosylation state of the cell wall in triggering an immune recognition event (Chapter 4). A. dispar is also shown to be suitable for studying the effectiveness of 3 | P a g e antifungals. Fluconazole treatment of infected embryos and eggs promoted greater rates of survival at high doses, alongside a significant reduction of C. albicans CFUs (Chapter 4). When looking at the Candida-host interaction, we directly observed phagocytosed yeast cells within macrophages. Various detection methods were used to follow macrophages and neutrophils including Western blotting, immunostaining and histological staining (Sudan black and FITC-tyramide) allowing the monitoring of the time course of the immune cells. A biphasic response of macrophages was detected by L-plastin Western blotting, suggesting activation of two different type of macrophage: activated macrophage (M1) and alternative macrophage (M2). We also assayed reactive oxygen species (ROS) within infected embryos using a fluorescent probe (H2DCFDA), revealing the accumulation of the fluorescent probe at the sites of infection. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the oxidative and immune response using the H2DCFDA and qPCR were also accomplished within A. dispar embryos after infection with both the WT and mutant strains of Candida albicans (WT, pmr1∆, mnt1-mnt2∆, and och1∆). The results confirmed that the mutant strains did not activate a host oxidative stress response nor immune cell accumulation when compared to WT, suggesting that the immune response is less activated against these mutants. Finally, a new transgenic line of A. dispar fish was developed using Betaactin-DsR-LoxP-GFP. The new transgenic A. dispar is suggested to be an ideal model for real time observation of host-pathogen interactions and for investigation of molecular functions of the immune response. Overall these results improve our understanding of the use of a new transparent fish model to study fungal pathogenesis and demonstrates the potential advantages of using this species in future studies of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens at a physiologically relevant temperature for human infection. Such a model could lead us to investigate in more depth the key interactions between pathogens and their host and permit the screening and development of new antifungal therapies (that might target the pathogens directly or target the host immune system). View full metadata
Abstract
The miraculous of al-Quran has been surrounded by the attention of scholars, as it is the one that has astonished the rhetoricians with its eloquence. So , they paid attention to every part of it and hugely they studied it with accuracy in respect to its Surah ad Ayahs. It is considered the most important source from which Arab scholars and early grammarians drew, given their unanimity that it is the highest degree of eloquence and the best record of the common literary language.
Among these sciences is the science of Grammar, and without Qur’an, this science would not have emerged, which later had control over every science of Arabic
... Show MoreReduce the required time for measuring the permeability of clayey soils by using new manufactured cell
It's for sure that TV or cinematic production requires an effort that is described to be large according to the script , thus we find a production sectors that couldn't fulfill these tasks especially in Iraq for its current challenges , although we found the department of film & television have a large quantity that could be described as big comparing to the Iraqi production sectors , alongside what it does provides to the Iraqi dramatic movement , but the cause that the management of this department is looking for is the quality that osmosis an dramatic & atheistic value , this production quantity that is productions operations frequently is attacked by lagging that came from many reasons that " May or May not " known to the spe
... Show MoreThe intensification of competition among all companies and at different levels has become necessary for every company need to continue to improve its performance in order to be able to face the competition and stay in the market. To achieve this, we must rely on the company's accounting information more accurate and appropriate and provided in a timely manner, for the purpose of use in planning and decision making.
So there must be information systems that help the administration to continuous development and improvement of the performance of companies in general, and this is what you need Jordanian companies, especially after the accession of Jordan to the field
... Show MoreThe research aims to design an electronic program that allows users to assess the possibility of different practices for projects management professional according to the PMBOK methodology)) and using the requirements Data mentioned in the "knowledge and experience in project management Evaluation guide" issued by the professional Institute of project management According to the results of this program will be electronic The possible classification of project management in terms of both (proficiency_ perform tasks) as less than the desired level or within or above average in terms of best practices, and finally a number of recommendations to overcome the possible shortcomings. The most important is the need to enrich the service
... Show MoreIn this work, we carried out an experimental study of thedusty
plasma by taking the dust material Fe3O4 with radius of the any grain
0.1μm - 0.5μm. In experiment we use air in the vacuum chamber
system under different low pressure (0.1-1) Torr. The results
illustrated that the present of dust particles in the air plasma did not
effect on Paschen minimum which is 0.5 without dust and with Fe3O4
dusty grains.
The effect of Fe3O4 dust particles on plasma parameters can be
notice in direct current system in glow discharge region. The plasma
parameters which were studied in this work represent plasma
potential, floating potential,electron saturation current, temperatu
The phenomenon of delayed marriage triggered the intention of most researchers and specialists to reveal the social factors associated with the spread of this phenomenon in order to identify the characteristics of that phenomenon and the social factors resulting from it. Thus, the current research aims to identify the social factors most related to the delay in marriage age among working-women at the University of Baghdad, represented by family factors, economic factors-professional, psychological factors – subjective, and environmental factors. The researcher also aims to identify the differences in social factors associated with late marriage age for working women at the University of Baghdad in terms of the type of profession (teach
... Show MoreIn this study used three methods such as Williamson-hall, size-strain Plot, and Halder-Wagner to analysis x-ray diffraction lines to determine the crystallite size and the lattice strain of the nickel oxide nanoparticles and then compare the results of these methods with two other methods. The results were calculated for each of these methods to the crystallite size are (0.42554) nm, (1.04462) nm, and (3.60880) nm, and lattice strain are (0.56603), (1.11978), and (0.64606) respectively were compared with the result of Scherrer method (0.29598) nm,(0.34245),and the Modified Scherrer (0.97497). The difference in calculated results Observed for each of these methods in this study.