Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection

<p> Tuberculosis, caused by <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> (<em>M.tb</em>) is one of the world's most prevalent infectious diseases. The quest for an effective vaccine and an immune correlate of protection are on going. Previous literature reports links betwee...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kandt, R
Other Authors: McShane, H
Format: Thesis
Published: 2015
_version_ 1797072411185643520
author Kandt, R
author2 McShane, H
author_facet McShane, H
Kandt, R
author_sort Kandt, R
collection OXFORD
description <p> Tuberculosis, caused by <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> (<em>M.tb</em>) is one of the world's most prevalent infectious diseases. The quest for an effective vaccine and an immune correlate of protection are on going. Previous literature reports links between the iron status of the host and disease severity, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Here, a murine model of <em>M.tb</em> infection was used to determine the effect of <em>M.tb</em> infection on the expression of hepcidin and other genes involved in the regulation of iron homeostasis. Female BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were infected with <em>M.tb</em> Erdman via aerosol. Change in expression of iron-responsive genes was measured by liver qRT- PCR. Bacterial burden was determined in organ homogenates. The effect of iron deficiency on disease outcome was also investigated, where mice fed an iron-deficient or control diet were infected with <em>M.tb</em>. To determine whether hepcidin has a role in disease outcome, <em>Hamp1</em><sup>-/-</sup> mice were also infected with <em>M.tb</em>. In the time course experiments, changes in hepcidin kinetics post-<em>M.tb</em> infection were observed, which were likely regulated by BMP/SMAD and not IL-6/JAK-STAT signalling. In the iron- restricted diet experiments, iron deficiency did not reproducibly affect bacterial burden. Moreover, deletion of Hamp1 did not affect outcome of in vivo <em>M.tb</em> infection. The data in this thesis indicate that iron homeostasis is altered during <em>M.tb</em> infection, but that altering host iron homeostasis by inducing iron deficiency or deleting the hepcidin gene does not compromise the host’s ability to control infection. </p>
first_indexed 2024-03-06T23:07:22Z
format Thesis
id oxford-uuid:644f5b86-8c53-4056-9a8a-ee2e30dd2282
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-06T23:07:22Z
publishDate 2015
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:644f5b86-8c53-4056-9a8a-ee2e30dd22822022-03-26T18:18:08ZInvestigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infectionThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:644f5b86-8c53-4056-9a8a-ee2e30dd2282ORA Deposit2015Kandt, RMcShane, H<p> Tuberculosis, caused by <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</em> (<em>M.tb</em>) is one of the world's most prevalent infectious diseases. The quest for an effective vaccine and an immune correlate of protection are on going. Previous literature reports links between the iron status of the host and disease severity, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Here, a murine model of <em>M.tb</em> infection was used to determine the effect of <em>M.tb</em> infection on the expression of hepcidin and other genes involved in the regulation of iron homeostasis. Female BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were infected with <em>M.tb</em> Erdman via aerosol. Change in expression of iron-responsive genes was measured by liver qRT- PCR. Bacterial burden was determined in organ homogenates. The effect of iron deficiency on disease outcome was also investigated, where mice fed an iron-deficient or control diet were infected with <em>M.tb</em>. To determine whether hepcidin has a role in disease outcome, <em>Hamp1</em><sup>-/-</sup> mice were also infected with <em>M.tb</em>. In the time course experiments, changes in hepcidin kinetics post-<em>M.tb</em> infection were observed, which were likely regulated by BMP/SMAD and not IL-6/JAK-STAT signalling. In the iron- restricted diet experiments, iron deficiency did not reproducibly affect bacterial burden. Moreover, deletion of Hamp1 did not affect outcome of in vivo <em>M.tb</em> infection. The data in this thesis indicate that iron homeostasis is altered during <em>M.tb</em> infection, but that altering host iron homeostasis by inducing iron deficiency or deleting the hepcidin gene does not compromise the host’s ability to control infection. </p>
spellingShingle Kandt, R
Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title_full Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title_fullStr Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title_short Investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
title_sort investigating the role of hepcidin and iron homeostasis in mycobacterial infection
work_keys_str_mv AT kandtr investigatingtheroleofhepcidinandironhomeostasisinmycobacterialinfection