A Jointly Experimental and Theoretical Exploration of Staphylococcus aureus Infections and their Control in Galleria mellonella Open Access

Abstract

Without the innate and adaptive immune systems, we are nothing more than fleshy flasks to invading bacteria. The innate immune system and all its components clear or reduce the densities bacterial infections to asymptomatic levels.  The wax moth, Galleria mellonella, has become an attractive model for experimentally exploring the action of innate immune system in the control of bacterial infections.  The goal of this investigation is to use mathematical models and computer simulations to generate testable hypotheses about the population dynamics of the control bacterial infection by the innate immune system of G. mellonella.  Using Staphylococcus aureus and G. mellonella I estimate the parameters of these models and explore their properties.  A particular focus is the contribution of the phagocytes of moth, hemocytes, to the dynamics of infections and the conditions under which they control the infection.  The results of this jointly theoretical and experiment study postulate and provide evidence that that phagocytes alone are not sufficient to control. S. aureus infections in G. mellonella.  Extracellular traps are generated and play the dominant role in controlling these infections.

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                                                                                            1

Methods                                                                                                                                 5

Results                                                                                                                                    7

Discussion                                                                                                                               22

References                                                                                                                              26

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Biology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Biology, Microbiology
Keyword	Galleria mellonella Immune Bacteria Wax Moth
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Bruce Levin, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Daniel Weissman, Emory University Dr. Nic Vega, Emory University

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