Understanding and Exploiting Host-Commensal Interactions to Combat Pathogens
Understanding and Exploiting Host-Commensal Interactions to Combat Pathogens

Author: Sudhanshu Shekhar

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2020-01-14

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 2889633365

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Trillions of commensal microbes reside on and inside the human body, including the intestinal and respiratory tracts, which encompass various microbial taxa, such as bacteria, fungi, archea and viruses. The close proximity of microbes with the host provides an opportunity to continually interact with each other. Advances in research approaches, including high-throughput sequencing, have allowed us to study host and commensal microbes at the genetic and functional levels. Recent studies suggest that commensal microbes play a crucial role in the development of the host’s immune system and induce innate and adaptive immune responses against pathogens. It is also becoming apparent that the gut commensals are endowed with a capacity to alter immune responses in organs beyond the intestine, such as the lungs, highlighting the significance of the gut commensals in controlling systemic immunity. On the other hand, the host’s immune system possesses the ability to shape the repertoire of commensal microbes and contribute to the establishment of beneficial relationships with them. A better understanding of host-commensal interactions will be important for designing effective vaccines and therapeutics against pathogens. This Research Topic sheds light on our current understanding of the interplay between the host’s immune system and commensal microbes and how this interplay can be exploited for prophylactic and/or therapeutic strategies against pathogens.

Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation
Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-05-10

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0309131219

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Dr. Joshua Lederberg - scientist, Nobel laureate, visionary thinker, and friend of the Forum on Microbial Threats - died on February 2, 2008. It was in his honor that the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop on May 20-21, 2008, to examine Dr. Lederberg's scientific and policy contributions to the marketplace of ideas in the life sciences, medicine, and public policy. The resulting workshop summary, Microbial Evolution and Co-Adaptation, demonstrates the extent to which conceptual and technological developments have, within a few short years, advanced our collective understanding of the microbiome, microbial genetics, microbial communities, and microbe-host-environment interactions.

Janeway's Immunobiology
Janeway's Immunobiology

Author: Kenneth Murphy

Publisher: Garland Science

Published: 2010-06-22

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780815344575

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The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.

Treating Infectious Diseases in a Microbial World
Treating Infectious Diseases in a Microbial World

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-01-03

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 0309180686

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Humans coexist with millions of harmless microorganisms, but emerging diseases, resistance to antibiotics, and the threat of bioterrorism are forcing scientists to look for new ways to confront the microbes that do pose a danger. This report identifies innovative approaches to the development of antimicrobial drugs and vaccines based on a greater understanding of how the human immune system interacts with both good and bad microbes. The report concludes that the development of a single superdrug to fight all infectious agents is unrealistic.

The Social Biology of Microbial Communities
The Social Biology of Microbial Communities

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-01-10

Total Pages: 633

ISBN-13: 0309264324

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Beginning with the germ theory of disease in the 19th century and extending through most of the 20th century, microbes were believed to live their lives as solitary, unicellular, disease-causing organisms . This perception stemmed from the focus of most investigators on organisms that could be grown in the laboratory as cellular monocultures, often dispersed in liquid, and under ambient conditions of temperature, lighting, and humidity. Most such inquiries were designed to identify microbial pathogens by satisfying Koch's postulates.3 This pathogen-centric approach to the study of microorganisms produced a metaphorical "war" against these microbial invaders waged with antibiotic therapies, while simultaneously obscuring the dynamic relationships that exist among and between host organisms and their associated microorganisms-only a tiny fraction of which act as pathogens. Despite their obvious importance, very little is actually known about the processes and factors that influence the assembly, function, and stability of microbial communities. Gaining this knowledge will require a seismic shift away from the study of individual microbes in isolation to inquiries into the nature of diverse and often complex microbial communities, the forces that shape them, and their relationships with other communities and organisms, including their multicellular hosts. On March 6 and 7, 2012, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop to explore the emerging science of the "social biology" of microbial communities. Workshop presentations and discussions embraced a wide spectrum of topics, experimental systems, and theoretical perspectives representative of the current, multifaceted exploration of the microbial frontier. Participants discussed ecological, evolutionary, and genetic factors contributing to the assembly, function, and stability of microbial communities; how microbial communities adapt and respond to environmental stimuli; theoretical and experimental approaches to advance this nascent field; and potential applications of knowledge gained from the study of microbial communities for the improvement of human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health and toward a deeper understanding of microbial diversity and evolution. The Social Biology of Microbial Communities: Workshop Summary further explains the happenings of the workshop.

Environmental Microbiology: Fundamentals and Applications
Environmental Microbiology: Fundamentals and Applications

Author: Jean-Claude Bertrand

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-01-26

Total Pages: 933

ISBN-13: 940179118X

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This book is a treatise on microbial ecology that covers traditional and cutting-edge issues in the ecology of microbes in the biosphere. It emphasizes on study tools, microbial taxonomy and the fundamentals of microbial activities and interactions within their communities and environment as well as on the related food web dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. The work exceeds the traditional domain of microbial ecology by revisiting the evolution of cellular prokaryotes and eukaryotes and stressing the general principles of ecology. The overview of the topics, authored by more than 80 specialists, is one of the broadest in the field of environmental microbiology. The overview of the topics, authored by more than 80 specialists, is one of the broadest in the field of environmental microbiology.

The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography
The Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography

Author: Stephen P. Hubbell

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-06-27

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1400837529

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Despite its supreme importance and the threat of its global crash, biodiversity remains poorly understood both empirically and theoretically. This ambitious book presents a new, general neutral theory to explain the origin, maintenance, and loss of biodiversity in a biogeographic context. Until now biogeography (the study of the geographic distribution of species) and biodiversity (the study of species richness and relative species abundance) have had largely disjunct intellectual histories. In this book, Stephen Hubbell develops a formal mathematical theory that unifies these two fields. When a speciation process is incorporated into Robert H. MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson's now classical theory of island biogeography, the generalized theory predicts the existence of a universal, dimensionless biodiversity number. In the theory, this fundamental biodiversity number, together with the migration or dispersal rate, completely determines the steady-state distribution of species richness and relative species abundance on local to large geographic spatial scales and short-term to evolutionary time scales. Although neutral, Hubbell's theory is nevertheless able to generate many nonobvious, testable, and remarkably accurate quantitative predictions about biodiversity and biogeography. In many ways Hubbell's theory is the ecological analog to the neutral theory of genetic drift in genetics. The unified neutral theory of biogeography and biodiversity should stimulate research in new theoretical and empirical directions by ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and biogeographers.

Bugs as Drugs
Bugs as Drugs

Author: Robert A. Britton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-02-01

Total Pages: 725

ISBN-13: 1683673026

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Examining the enormous potential of microbiome manipulation to improve health Associations between the composition of the intestinal microbiome and many human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and cancer, have been elegantly described in the past decade. Now, whole-genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and precision gene-editing techniques are being combined with centuries-old therapies, such as fecal microbiota transplantation, to translate current research into new diagnostics and therapeutics to treat complex diseases. Bugs as Drugs provides a much-needed overview of microbes in therapies and will serve as an excellent resource for scientists and clinicians as they carry out research and clinical studies on investigating the roles the microbiota plays in health and disease. In Bugs as Drugs, editors Robert A. Britton and Patrice D. Cani have assembled a fascinating collection of reviews that chart the history, current efforts, and future prospects of using microorganisms to fight disease and improve health. Sections cover traditional uses of probiotics, next-generation microbial therapeutics, controlling infectious diseases, and indirect strategies for manipulating the host microbiome. Topics presented include: How well-established probiotics support and improve host health by improving the composition of the intestinal microbiota of the host and by modulating the host immune response. The use of gene editing and recombinant DNA techniques to create tailored probiotics and to characterize next-generation beneficial microbes. For example, engineering that improves the anti-inflammatory profile of probiotics can reduce the number of colonic polyps formed, and lactobacilli can be transformed into targeted delivery systems carrying therapeutic proteins or bioengineered bacteriophage. The association of specific microbiota composition with colorectal cancer, liver diseases, osteoporosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. The gut microbiota has been proposed to serve as an organ involved in regulation of inflammation, immune function, and energy homeostasis. Fecal microbiota transplantation as a promising treatment for numerous diseases beyond C. difficile infection. Practical considerations for using fecal microbiota transplantation are provided, while it is acknowledged that more high-quality evidence is needed to ascertain the importance of strain specificity in positive treatment outcomes. Because systems biology approaches and synthetic engineering of microbes are now high-throughput and cost-effective, a much wider range of therapeutic possibilities can be explored and vetted. If you are looking for online access to the latest clinical microbiology content, please visit www.wiley.com/learn/clinmicronow.

Natural Autoantibodies
Natural Autoantibodies

Author: Yehuda Shoenfeld

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 1992-12-07

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9780849355011

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Natural Autoantibodies provides an in-depth analysis of all aspects of natural antibodies. The book examines the advantages and pitfalls of every type of technique that is widely used for detecting autoantibodies. It also covers the sequencing of human autoantibody genes, discussing how sequencing is undertaken and the genetic clues available to elucidate the genetic origins of autoimmunity. Animal models of autoimmunity are also covered, and the up-to-date account provided in this book explains how natural autoantibodies have important regulatory functions and also occasionally serve as templates for autoimmunity. Other topics examined in Natural Autoantibodies: Their Physiological Role and Regulatory Significance include idiotypes of natural autoantibodies; the pathogenic role of natural autoantibodies; and methods to measure the effects of genetic and sex hormones, as well as aging, on natural autoantibodies. The book will be an excellent research tool and reference for immunologists, rheumatologists, and others interested in the topic.