Detail

Keywords

Molecular Epidemiology; Mycoplasma hominis; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Trichomonas vaginalis

Research group(s)

• Molecular parasitology
  Head: Julia Walochnik
  Research Area: Acanthamoeba infections, amoebae as hosts for bacteria, vector-borne parasites, molecular phylogeny
  Members:
  Julia Walochnik
  Iwona Lesiak-Markowicz
  Martina Köhsler
  Edwin Kniha
  Ursula Fürnkranz
  Alvie Loufouma Mbouaka
  Rounik Mazumdar

Research interests

My research focuses on the prevalence and molecular typing of Trichomonas vaginalis, a flagellated protozoon colonizing the mucosal epithelium of human urogenital tract and the causative agent of trichomonosis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease (STD) and Mycoplasma hominis, which is an opportunistic human pathogen, a common commensal bacterium of the human female genital tract with the ability to cause genital and neo-natal infections and systematic infections in immunocompromised patients.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Culture: HeLa Cells, Trichomonas vaginalis,  Mycoplasma hominis, Chlamydia trachomatis 
Molecular biology techniques: DNA extraction, RNA extraction, PCR, qPCR, sequencing, viability assay, drug susceptibility assay, Chlamydia trachomatis serovar determination
Light Microscopy, Fluorescence Microscopy

Selected publications

1. Vogl, G. et al., 2008. Immune evasion by acquisition of complement inhibitors: The mould Aspergillus binds both factor H and C4b binding protein. Molecular Immunology, 45(5), pp.1485–1493. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molimm.2007.08.011.
2. Lenardon, M.D. et al., 2009. Dissection of the Candida albicans class I chitin synthase promoters. Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 281(4). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00438-009-0423-0.
3. Bourgeois, C. et al., 2011. Conventional Dendritic Cells Mount a Type I IFN Response againstCandidaspp. Requiring Novel Phagosomal TLR7-Mediated IFN-β Signaling. The Journal of Immunology, 186(5), pp.3104–3112. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1002599.
4. Lesiak-Markowicz, I. et al., 2011. Candida albicans Hgt1p, a Multifunctional Evasion Molecule: Complement Inhibitor, CR3 Analogue, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Binding Molecule. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 204(5), pp.802–809. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jir455.
5. Lesiak-Markowicz, I. et al., 2019. Chlamydia trachomatis serovars in urogenital and ocular samples collected 2014–2017 from Austrian patients. Scientific Reports, 9(1). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54886-5.