Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2017

WNT signalling shapes the host response to acute bacterial infection (#117)

Thao T Tran 1 , Marcela Gatica Andrades 1 , Tam TK Nguyen 1 , Jessica Kling 1 , Orry Wyer 1 , Dorothy Chan 1 , Timothy Barnett 2 3 , Shannon Joseph 1 , Fiona Simpson 1 , Darren Brown 4 , Jennifer L Stow 4 , Bala Venkatesh 5 6 , Jeremy Cohen 7 , Jakob Begun 8 , Antje Blumenthal 1 2 3
  1. The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
  2. University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  3. Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
  4. Institue for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
  5. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane
  6. Intensive Care Medicine, Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
  7. Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane
  8. UQ Mater Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD

Bacterial infections remain an important clinical challenge despite our extensive arsenal of antibiotics. This is exemplified by lengthy treatments of chronic infections, high mortality due to excessive inflammation, and an alarming increase in antibiotic resistance. One attractive strategy for improved treatments for challenging infections is to enhance the host anti-microbial defence. We and others have associated the WNT signalling pathway with bacterial infections in patients and model systems, implicating novel immune-related functions for this well-known developmental signalling pathway. However, the nature of its contribution to the host response to infection remains to be clearly defined. This presentation explores infection-associated WNT responses in patients and model systems, and delineates functions of WNT signalling in tailoring host responses to acute bacterial infection.