Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

"Treponema pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis, a chronic multistage infection that is transmitted by sexual contact. Rates of infection have been growing on a global scale for over a decade, which demonstrates the need for research into the molecular mechanisms behind the infection. T. pallidum is able to persist within a host indefinitely in the absence of treatment and is able to spread through the bloodstream into every tissue within the body. Additionally, T. pallidum is able to cross the blood brain barrier and placental barrier, gaining access to the central nervous system and to the unborn fetus. Unlike many bacterial pathogens, T. pallidum lacks the ability to introduce effector proteins into host cells, which highlights the importance of host-pathogen membrane interactions. These interactions between T. pallidum and host cells remain incompletely understood, thus, further research is required. To investigate the interaction between T. pallidum and host endothelial cells, mass spectrometry will be used to quantify host proteomic alterations in endothelial cells exposed to live T. pallidum. Additionally, flow cytometry will be used to determine the amount and type of immunoregulatory proteins being released by endothelial cells during exposure to T. pallidum. These approaches will mark the first-time mass spectrometry and flow cytometry will be used to investigate host-pathogen interactions of live T. pallidum with endothelial cells on an organismal level. Insight drawn from these studies will improve understanding of host immune responses, identify target host receptors, and inform vaccine design by characterizing immune modulation by T. pallidum."