Eukaryotic Pathogens
Credit Hour(s): 3 Units
Instructor(s): Rappleye
Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Micro 4100
Role in Microbiology Major: Group 1 Elective
Additional Information: Students are encouraged to first take Micro 4110 and/or Micro 5122
Lecture Topics:
- Immune defenses: physical barrier, soluble factors, and cellular effectors
- Virulence strategies of pathogenic microbes
- Fungal pathogens (mycoses): Candida (candidiasis/candidemia), Aspergillus (aspergillosis), Cryptococcus (cryptococcosis), and Histoplasma (histoplasmosis)
- Antifungal diagnostics
- Antifungal therapeutics
- Protozoan pathogens: Entameoba histolytica (amoebiasis), Toxoplasma (toxoplasmosis), Trypanosomes (trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease), Leishmania (leishmaniasis), Plasmodium species (malaria)
- Antiparasite therapeutics
Learning Outcomes:
Successful students will be able to...
- Describe the molecules involved in innate immune cell recognition of microbial cells
- Describe common fungal molecules detected by innate immune cells
- Describe the strategies employed by fungal pathogens for survival in mammalian hosts
- Describe the molecules used by fungi to form biofilms
- Evaluate the molecular targets for current fungal diagnostic tests
- Evaluate the targets and efficacy of current antifungal compounds
- Describe how parasites escape clearance by the host immune system
- Describe the mechanisms by which parasites invade and persist in host cells
- Describe how parasite molecules determine which host cells are invaded
- Describe the mechanisms through which current anti-parasite treatments work and their limitations
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