Date of Award
2021
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Microbiology and Immunology
Abstract
Women are 8 times more likely than men to experience a urinary tract infection (UTI) with up to 60% of women reporting a UTI in their lifetime. This significant healthcare burden is caused by the infection of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in the urinary tract. At this time, treatment is limited to antibiotic therapy, which is challenged by antibiotic-resistance. These factors make UTIs an NIH priority and are motivation for our research.CgA is a protein of the granin family co-released with catecholamines from neuroendocrine cells throughout the body. Pro-hormone convertases post-translationally cleave CgA into peptides, like catestatin, which can have antimicrobial peptide activity. Systemic CHGA knockout mice demonstrate increased bacterial load in a murine UTI model. Therefore, our research aimed to address CgA modulation of AMP and immune response in the bladder during a UTI. We demonstrate CgA's ability to modulate AMP and cytokine release, and bacterial load during UTI.
Recommended Citation
Ceccarelli, Theadora Jane, "CHGA-Depleted Urothelial Amp and Immune Response During Urinary Tract Infection" (2021). Master's Theses. 4357.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/4357
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2021 Theadora Jane Ceccarelli
