Galleria mellonella as a screening tool to study virulence factors of Aspergillus fumigatus

Abstract

The invertebrate Galleria mellonella has increasingly and widely been used in the last few years to study complex host–microbe interactions. Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the most pathogenic fungi causing life-threatening diseases in humans and animals. Galleria mellonella larvae has been proven as a reliable model for the analysis of pathogenesis and virulence factors, enable to screen a large number of A. fumigatus strains. This review describes the different uses of G. mellonella to study A. fumigatus and provides a comparison of the different protocols to trace fungal pathogenicity. The review also includes a summary of the diverse mutants tested in G. mellonella , and their respective contribution to A. fumigatus virulence. Previous investigations indicated that G. mellonella should be considered as an interesting tool even though a mammalian model may be required to complete and verify initial data.

Galleria mellonella as a Suitable Model of Bacterial Infection: Past, Present and Future

“…The dorsal region, considered to be crucial by coordinating the immune response, is called the “new immune tissue” ( Pereira et al., 2015 ; Hillyer and Pass, 2020 ). The ventral region corresponds to the nervous system, and consists of several ganglia ( Figure 2C ) ( Singkum et al., 2019 ; Durieux et al., 2021 ). Larvae at last instar produce silk which is used to form cocoons ( Singkum et al., 2019 ).…”

Synthesis and Study of Antifungal Properties of New Cationic Beta-Glucan Derivatives

“…For evaluation of the antifungal activity of the tested polymers using an in vivo infection model, only SBBGTMAC2 was chosen due to the best synthesis yield of this compound, accompanied by relatively high activity in preliminary studies (for two fungal strains). The insect model host Galleria mellonella combined with A. brasiliensis was used due to the fact that G. mellonella was described as a good model for testing Aspergillus pathogenicity and that in this case it can give us a reliable proof of concept [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. These compromises in the scale of these experiments are due to the fact that these were preliminary studies, and the simplicity and efficiency aspect of the synthesis was assumed to be a priority in this work.…”

“…They are used in medicine as natural preparations with antitumor properties, which decrease the levels of cholesterol and glucose in the serum and also stimulate the immune system [ 19 , 28 ]. The antibacterial properties of beta-glucans are also known and well described [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], but little is known about their direct action on fungi and possible direct antifungal activity. So far, research has focused on understanding the interactions between host cells (mainly animal) and beta-glucan and the host anti-fungal immunity induced by this compound [ 32 ].…”

Perfil fenotípico e genotípico de >i<Fusarium>/i< spp. provenientes de episódios clínicos de fusarioses no Estado de São Paulo

“…( As vantagens da inativação fotodinâmica antimicrobiana são a dupla seletividade (localização da luz e do FS), o desenvolvimento muito improvável de resistência microbiana e atividade eficiente em cepas multirresistentes (WAINWRIGHT et al, 2017). no segmento abdominal, um tubo digestivo completo, vaso sanguíneo dorsal (sistema circulatório aberto), glândulas de seda (produção de pré-pupa) e um sistema nervoso subesofágico, formado por um cordão nervoso ventral com gânglios e uma hemocele (DURIEUX et al, 2021). A hemocele compreende por toda a porção interna do animal, que promove fluxo da hemolinfa, importante para a circulação de nutrientes e gases em todos os tecidos.…”

“…Além disso, requerem um minucioso processo de aprovação de comitês de bioética em pesquisa animal (MYLONAKIS et al, 2005). Até o presente momento, as regras bioéticas vigentes não se aplicam ao uso de insetos e nematoides (DURIEUX et al, 2021;SCULLY;BIDOCHKA, 2006).…”