Immune response to pathogens in diabetes

To investigate the differential gene expression by NGS technology in normal and diabetic corneas during Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (PA) infection, corneas from normal and diabetic mouse were gently scratched with 26-gauge needles, followed by topical inoculation of PA. At 6 h, 1 and 3 days, the corneas were collected and processed for RNA sequencing. Bioinformatic analyses revealed an orderly activation of biological processes starting from pathogen pattern recognition, cytokine/chemokine expression, to innate immune cell infiltration (chemotaxis), and to the activation of TH2 and TH17 immunity in NL corneas. Diabetes disturbs these orderly innate and adaptive immune responses, leading to increased susceptibility and exacerbated progression of microbial keratitis. Completion of the proposed study should reveal novel insights into the molecular and cellular aspects of the proneness of diabetic patients to infection and may enable the development of new therapeutic modalities for enhancing mucosal innate immunity in diabetic patients, and for treating infectious keratitis in general. Overall design: Examination of differential gene expression in normal and diabetic mouse corneas.