A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections.
The system can be a powerful tool for screening potential drug targets for conditions like thrush, athlete's foot and vaginal yeast infections, which affect millions of people each year but are difficult to treat with existing medications. Using the new model, the researchers also identified a gene that may be a promising target for a new anti-fungal drug.
The WPI research team led by Reeta Prusty Rao, PhD, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology, developed the new model using the microscopic soil worm Ceanorhaditis elegans (C. elegans) as a test host which is then infected with the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). Commonly known as baker's yeast or brewer's yeast, S. cerevisae doesn't cause disease in humans, but the WPI team found that it can infect, and if left untreated, kill the worm. Since S.cerveisiae has many genes in common with fungi that do cause human disease, the genetic and molecular analysis now possible with this new testing model can be used to identify targets that could prevent or treat fungal infections in people.
"The beauty of this new model is that we can study both sides of the equation: the processes of fungal infection and the host's response to try and fight off that infection," said Rao.
