Browsing by Author "Siddiq, Affan"

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    Pure Award Final Report
    (University of Calgary, 2018-09-21) Siddiq, Affan
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    The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Giardia Microbiota Interactions
    (2021-06-16) Siddiq, Affan; Buret, Andre; McKay, Derek; Gedamu, Lashitew
    Giardia duodenalis is one of the most common cause of parasitic driven diarrheal diseases worldwide with over 200 million cases. Limited evidence indicates that the parasite is capable of shedding extracellular vesicles (EVs) which have been implicated in pathogenesis. In this work, we characterized Giardia EVs using state-of-the-art methods such as nanoparticle track analysis, transmission electron microscopy, proteomics, and small RNA sequencing. The effects of Giardia-derived EVs on the growth and behavior of commensal bacteria were examined. Our results indicate that Giardia produces EVs with characteristic morphology and these EVs contained virulence factors, and a variety of small RNA molecules including miRNAs. The EVs were shown to affect the growth and motility of commensal bacteria by exhibiting bacteriostatic effects, increasing bacterial motility, promoting bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells and decreasing their ability to form biofilms. The effects of EVs on bacterial motility, adhesion and biofilm forming ability were found to be, in part, mediated by the RNA content of EVs. Taken together, these findings highlight the novel role of Giardia derived EVs in mediating trans-kingdom crosstalk with the commensal bacteria and contribute to our understanding of EVs in Giardia pathogenesis.