Galleria mellonella–intracellular bacteria pathogen infection models: the ins and outs

Abstract

Galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) larvae are used widely as surrogate infectious disease models, due to ease of use and the presence of an innate immune system functionally similar to that of vertebrates. Here we review G. mellonella-human intracellular bacteria pathogen infection models from the genera Burkholderia, Coxiella, Francisella, Listeria, and Mycobacterium. For all genera, G. mellonella use has increased understanding of host-bacterial interactive biology, particularly through studies comparing the virulence of closely related species and/or wild-type versus mutant pairs. In many cases, virulence in G. mellonella mirrors that found in mammalian infection models, although it is unclear whether the pathogenic mechanisms are the same. The use of G. mellonella larvae has speeded up in vivo efficacy and toxicity testing of novel antimicrobials to treat infections caused by intracellular bacteria: an area that will expand since the FDA no longer requires animal testing for licensure. Further use of G. mellonella-intracellular bacteria infection models will be driven by advances in G. mellonella genetics, imaging, metabolomics, proteomics, and transcriptomic methodologies, alongside the development and accessibility of reagents to quantify immune markers, all of which will be underpinned by a fully annotated genome.

A Potential Strategy against Clinical Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Antimicrobial Activity Study of Sweetener-Decorated Gold Nanoparticles in Vitro and in Vivo

“…Multiple authoritative studies have highlighted Galleria mellonella's role as a stable in vivo model, characterized by its cost-effectiveness, user-friendliness, and absence of ethical limitations. This model produces results similar to those achieved through vertebrate in vivo experiments [58][59][60] . In our initial step, we introduced various concentrations of ASP_Au NPs into healthy Galleria mellonella to gauge in vivo safety and dismiss the possibility of drug-induced mortality.…”

Ex vivo infection model for Francisella using human lung tissue

“…In contrast, an Fth strain-specific virulence has been indicated by other studies using human monocytes (THP-1), murine macrophages (J774A.1; ( Matz and Petrosino, 2021 )) and a co-culture of human hepatocytes and macrophages ( Rennert et al., 2016 ).These findings can, however, only be considered comparable with our results to a certain extent due to different cell types and experimental procedures used. To investigate Francisella virulence different models has been used so far, including animal models (see above and below), the Fruit Fly ( Drosophila melanogaster ( Vonkavaara et al., 2008 ; Ahlund et al., 2010 ; Asare et al., 2010 ), the larvae of the Greater Wax Moth ( Galleria mellonella , ( Aperis et al., 2007 ; Thelaus et al., 2018 ; Asai et al., 2023 )) and Dictyostelium discoideum ( Lampe et al., 2015 ; Brenz et al., 2018 ), as well as cell-dependent models such as Drosophila S2 cells ( Santic et al., 2009 ; Asare et al., 2010 ) and macrophages ( Qin and Mann, 2006 ; Maier et al., 2007 ; Rasmussen et al., 2015 ; Matz and Petrosino, 2021 ). However, it is always the question of transferability of results obtained by animal- or cell-line models to the human host.…”

Differences in molecular characteristics and expression of virulence genes in carbapenem-resistant and sensitive Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in Ningbo, China

“…We used Galleria mellonella larvae as an infection model ( Ménard et al, 2021 ; Asai et al, 2023 ). The strains were derived from RT-qPCR consistently, as detailed in Supplementary Table 3 .…”