Rahman Durdana, Mistry Mukesh, Thavaraj Selvam, Naglik Julian R, Challacombe Stephen J
Department of Oral Immunology, King's College London Dental Institute, London, UK.
Methods Mol Biol. 2012;845:527-35. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-539-8_38.
Investigations into the complex interaction between the fungal pathogen Candida albicans and its human host require the use of animals as in vivo models. A major advance is the creation of a low-oestrogen murine model of concurrent oral and vaginal C. albicans colonisation that resembles human candidal carriage at both mucosal sites. Weekly intramuscular (5 μg) and subcutaneous (5 μg) oestrogen administration was determined as optimal, enhancing oral colonisation but essential for vaginal colonisation. Using a clinical C. albicans oral isolate, persistent colonisation for up to 6 weeks can be achieved at both sites in two strains of mice (BALB/c and C57BL/6). This concurrent model of mucosal colonisation reduces the numbers of experimental mice by half, and opens up new avenues of research in assessing potential mucosal vaccine candidates and in studying delicate host-pathogen interactions during the most natural state of C. albicans epithelial colonisation.
对真菌病原体白色念珠菌与其人类宿主之间复杂相互作用的研究需要使用动物作为体内模型。一项重大进展是创建了一种低雌激素小鼠模型，该模型可同时模拟口腔和阴道白色念珠菌的定植情况，类似于人类在两个黏膜部位的念珠菌携带状态。已确定每周肌肉注射（5μg）和皮下注射（5μg）雌激素为最佳方案，这可增强口腔定植，但对阴道定植至关重要。使用一株临床白色念珠菌口腔分离株，在两种小鼠品系（BALB/c和C57BL/6）的两个部位均可实现长达6周的持续定植。这种黏膜定植的并行模型将实验小鼠数量减少了一半，并为评估潜在的黏膜疫苗候选物以及研究白色念珠菌上皮定植最自然状态下微妙的宿主-病原体相互作用开辟了新的研究途径。
