Shahida Shahana

University of Aberdeen | ABDN · Division of Medical and Dental Education

Pelvic infections and sexually transmitted diseases place a burden on health resources and may be associated with premature birth. The mechanisms by which the female reproductive tract (FRT) combats these infections remain ill understood, but are likely to involve the pattern recognition Toll-like receptors (TLR). We sought to compare the expressio...

Precise genome modification is essential for the molecular dissection of Candida albicans, and is yielding invaluable information about the roles of specific gene functions in this major fungal pathogen of humans. C. albicans is naturally diploid, unable to undergo meiosis, and utilizes a non-canonical genetic code. Hence, specialized tools have ha...

Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen of humans. This yeast is carried by many individuals as a harmless commensal, but when immune defences are perturbed it causes mucosal infections (thrush). Additionally, when the immune system becomes severely compromised, C. albicans often causes life-threatening systemic infections. A battery of virulen...

A large proportion of Candida albicans cell surface proteins are decorated post-translationally by glycosylation. Indeed N-glycosylation is critical for cell wall biogenesis in this major fungal pathogen and for its interactions with host cells. A detailed understanding of N-glycosylation will yield deeper insights into host-pathogen interactions....

Nasal polyposis is a poorly understood chronic inflammatory disease often associated with asthma. As nasal polyps and asthma both are associated with massive eosinophil infiltration, they may share a common pathophysiological mechanism. Many genetic and autoimmune diseases may result from altered expression or function of cell adhesion molecules su...

The presence of adhesion molecules on airway epithelial cells may be important in recruiting leukocytes to the epithelium. The study aimed at investigating the effects of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-8, IL-13 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on cell viability and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and zonula occludens protein (ZO)-1 expression on c...

Epithelial damage is commonly found in airways of asthma patients. The aim of this study was to investigate epithelial damage in allergic and non-allergic asthma at the ultrastructural level. Bronchial biopsies obtained from patients with allergic asthma (n=11), non-allergic asthma (n=7), and healthy controls (n=5) were studied by transmission elec...

Shedding of airway epithelial cells is a common finding in asthma. In this study, the attachment of the airway epithelial cells to the basal lamina (BL) was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of biopsies from patients with atopic asthma and healthy controls. The following parameters were quantitatively determined: the height of...

Allergic asthma is associated with an increased number of eosinophils in the airway wall. Eosinophils secrete cationic proteins, particularly major basic protein (MBP). To investigate the effect of synthetic cationic polypeptides such as poly-L-arginine, which can mimic the effect of MBP, on airway epithelial cells. Cultured airway epithelial cells...