| Ämnesområde: |
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| Namn: |
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| E-post: |
oscarsson@odont.umu.se |
| Univ./Institution: |
Umeå universitet - Odontologi |
| Projekttitel (sv): |
Prevention av mastitis - den molekylära approachen |
| Projekttitel (eng): |
Prevention of mastitis - a molecular approach |
| Värdhögskola: |
Umeå universitet |
| SCB-klassificering: |
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| Beviljat (SEK): |
Bidragsform |
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
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NKJ |
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540000 |
540000 |
540000 |
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| Beskrivning: |
Infection in the mammary glands, mastitis, is the most economically important disease of dairy ruminants in the Nordic countries and worldwide. Mastitis reduces milk quality and causes the biggest economical losses to the dairy industry. In Finland i.e., every third cow is treated with antibiotics each year due to mastitis. Moreover, mastitis has a profound negative effect on animal welfare, as infections tend to become chronic even in animals treated with antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci are major causes of bovine subclinical mastitis. The bacteria persist in mammary glands of infected cows. The animals usually do not respond to antibiotic treatment, and infected cows eventually must be segregated or culled from the herd. Staphylococcus aureus is a major opportunistic pathogen also in man causing skin infections, food poisoning and life-threatening deep infections such as pneumonia, endocarditis, and toxic shock syndrome. S. aureus is able to acquire resistance to multiple antibiotics making it one of the major threats to human and animal health. Alternative approaches to treating S. aureus infections are urgently needed. Streptococcus uberis is yet another major cause of bovine mastitis. Currently employed mastitis treatment and prevention strategies have proven inefficient against this environmentally transmitted mastitis pathogen. The aim of the present project is to provide new ways for preventing Galaxo https://extra.mss.fi/hallinta/mss/feedback/feedback_kasittely.php?id=... 4 / 5 3.6.2008 13:53 and treating mastitis infections caused by the major mastitis pathogens by 1) examining the potential of immuno-proteomics for the development of protective vaccines against mastitis and 2) by elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which these pathogens control expression of virulence genes and evade recognition by the immune system. Unravelling these mechanisms may provide new targets for antibiotic treatment and for vaccine development. Expected results and their significance Results will have impact on different levels. First of all they will give insight into the host-defence strategies and complexity of the virulence mechanisms used by bacterial pathogens to optimize infection. The results will therefore be of high academic interest and should be published in high-class molecular journals. Knowledge of the critical molecular determinants underlying mastitis is an essential step towards the development of novel medical tools and prophylactic strategies for use in this economically very important disease that affects cattle worldwide. In fact, ClpP protease, the major regulator of virulence that is investigated in the current proposal has recently been targetted by a new class of promising antibiotics. Secondly, the project has a practical objective in examining the potential of the technique of immunoproteomics for developing a protective vaccine against mastitis – a vaccine that will have substantial impact on animal production in terms of economy and animal welfare. Nordic dimension The combination of the expert knowledge on staphylococcal virulence factors and their regulation present at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and The University of Copenhagen (Denmark) with the expertise and facilities for immunoproteomic studies on both Streptococcus uberis and staphylococci at the University of Helsinki, UH (Finland) provides an optimal framework for the project. Jan Oscarsson worked many years with Professor Staffan Arvidson at Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm. Arvidson’s group has had a pioneering role in identifying the molecular factors involved in staphylococcal virulence regulation. JO and Dorte Frees have many years’ fruitful research collaboration history. The knowledge on virulence gene regulation is more limited regarding Streptococcus uberis. Nevertheless, Pekka Varmanen and his group have studied this bacterium for some years now. They established themselves in the field of proteomics that is an ideal tool for dissecting systematically the proteins involved in the complex host-microbe interactions. PV and Antti Iivanainen (research training at KI) share the laboratory facilities at UH. PV has also collaborated successfully with DF in the past. The project involves extensive research visits, which further strenghtens the contacts between the four groups. |
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