Gene expression analysis after the host-pathogen interaction is revolutionizing our understanding of the host response to infection. Numerous studies have utilized microarray analysis to follow host cell transcriptome alterations in response to interactions with infectious pathogens. However, similar analyses of pathogen transcriptional adaptation at the infection site have been limited. Understanding the nature of this interaction from the pathogen perspective at different sites and stages of infection is central to strategies for development of new anti-infective therapies. Toward this end, we developed a protocol to analyze changes in gene expression for a eukaryotic pathogen, Candida albicans, during systemic infection in mice. The experimental approach takes advantage of the resistance of the cell wall of many fungal pathogens to cell lysis, relative to mammalian cells. After lysis of mammalian cells, the tissue mixture containing fungal cells is depleted of mammalian RNA by centrifugation, followed by enzymatic digestion. RNA-digesting enzymes are then inhibited before eukaryotic cell lysis and RNA isolation. The protocol provides a reproducible quantity of RNA based on pathogen cell number. The quality of the RNA allowed reliable downstream transcriptional analysis using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and microarrays. The in vivo gene expression data confirmed involvement of several putative pathogenesis genes. More importantly, the results provided a wealth of biologically interesting hypotheses to direct future investigation.

Hereditary hyperplastic gingivitis (HHG) is an autosomal recessive disease that presents with progressive gingival proliferation in farmed silver foxes. Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is an analogous condition in humans that is genetically heterogeneous with several known autosomal dominant loci. For one locus the causative mutation is in the Son of sevenless homologue 1 (SOS1) gene. For the remaining loci, the molecular mechanisms are unknown but Ras pathway involvement is suspected. Here we compare sequences for the SOS1 gene, and two adjacent genes in the Ras pathway, growth receptor bound protein 2 (GRB2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), between HHG-affected and unaffected foxes. We conclude that the known HGF causative mutation does not cause HHG in foxes, nor do the coding regions or intron-exon boundaries of these three genes contain any candidate mutations for fox gum disease. Patterns of molecular evolution among foxes and other mammals reflect high conservation and strong functional constraints for SOS1 and GRB2 but reveal a lineage-specific pattern of variability in EGFR consistent with mutational rate differences, relaxed functional constraints, and possibly positive selection.

Hereditary hyperplastic gingivitis (HHG) is an autosomal recessive condition found predominantly in farmed silver foxes, first documented in Europe in the 1940s. Hereditary gingival fibromatosis (HGF) is an analogous condition occurring in humans. HGF has a heterogeneous aetiology with emphasis placed on the autosomal dominant forms of inheritance for which there are three known loci: HGF1, HGF2, and HGF3. Among these, only one causative mutation has been determined, in the Son of sevenless homolog 1 (SOS1) gene. The goal of this study was to explore potential molecular or cellular mechanisms underlying HHG by analysis of global gene expression patterns from Affymetrix Canine 2.0 microarrays cross-referenced against candidate genes within the human loci. We conclude that the SOS1 gene involved in HGF1 is not significantly up-regulated in HHG. However, the structurally and functionally similar SOS2 gene is up-regulated in affected foxes, and we propose this as a candidate gene for HHG. At HGF2 we identify RASA1 (rat sarcoma viral p21 protein activator 1) as a candidate gene for HHG, as it is up-regulated in affected foxes and is involved in MAPK signalling. From comparison to the genes within the HGF3 locus, we find evidence for a role of androgens in HHG phenotype severity by differential up-regulation of SRD5A2 in HHG-affected foxes. We hypothesize that the putative mutation occurs upstream of RAS in the extracellular signal-regulated kinase component of MAPK signalling.