1. <italic>Galleria mellonella</italic> as an infection model for the virulent <italic>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</italic> H37Rv.
- Author
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Asai, Masanori, Li, Yanwen, Spiropoulos, John, Cooley, William, Everest, David J., Kendall, Sharon L., Martín, Carlos, Robertson, Brian D., Langford, Paul R., and Newton, Sandra M.
- Abstract
Abstract Tuberculosis (TB), caused by
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB ), is a leading cause of infectious disease mortality. Animal infection models have contributed substantially to our understanding of TB, yet their biological and non-biological limitations are a research bottleneck. There is a need for more ethically acceptable, economical, and reproducible TB infection models capable of mimicking key aspects of disease. Here we demonstrate and present a basic description of howGalleria mellonella (the greater wax moth,Gm ) larvae can be used as a low cost, rapid and ethically more acceptable model for TB research. This is the first study to infectGm with the fully virulentMTB H37Rv, the most widely used strain in research. Infection ofGm withMTB resulted in a symptomatic lethal infection, the virulence of which differed from both attenuatedMycobacterium bovis BCG and auxotrophicMTB strains. TheGm-MTB model can also be used for anti-TB drug screening, although CFU enumeration fromGm is necessary for confirmation of mycobacterial load reducing activity of the tested compound. Furthermore, comparative virulence ofMTB isogenic mutants can be determined inGm . However, comparison of mutant phenotypes in Gm against conventional models must consider the limitations of innate immunity. Our findings indicate thatGm will be a practical, valuable and advantageous additional model to be used alongside existing models to advance tuberculosis research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2022
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