Gee, Joshua; Clark, Daniel (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Clark, Daniel (Weber State University, Microbiology)
Naegleria fowleri is a fatal human pathogenic free-living amoeba capable of infecting the human central nervous system. The causative agent of an extremely rare and fatal infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. N.fowleri is dangerously lethal in the fact that it rapidly deteriorates the brain and is most often diagnosed at death. It is believed that N.fowleri CD59-like complement regulatory protein is important in the infection process. The function of this protein has not been made clear, but is thought to play a protective role in resistance to lytic cell death caused by complement. Consequence of this function results in the amoeba becoming camouflaged by the host's native immune system. Inhibition of this protein is a novel step toward treatment of infection. An established and successful approach to treating infectious organisms is to use antibodies that target and interrupt the function of outer membrane proteins involved in the infection process.The goal of this research is to evaluate the hypothesis that human anti-CD59 antibodies can neutralize the amoeba's CD59-like protein in the presence of complement, which would normally lyse the cells. To do this, we established an experimental infection model using human cells (HeLa cervical cancer cells) grown to confluence in a monolayer, which are susceptible to infection by N. fowleri. This model mimics the natural infection of N. fowleri, and will provide a greater understanding of its pathogenesis.