 Suzanne
M. Fleiszig, OD, PhD
Associate Professor of Vision Science and Optometry
University of California, Berkeley
Contact Information
688 Minor Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
Phone: (510) 643-0990 (office)
Fax: (510) 643-5109
fleiszig@socrates.berkeley.edu
Web Sites
Vision Science Web Page: Fleiszig
Vision Science Web Page
Web Page: http://vision.berkeley.edu/patliv/
Education
BScOptom: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
MScOptom: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
PhD: University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Postdoctoral: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Research Interests
Dr. Fleiszig’s interests include microbiology, immunology, infectious disease, in addition to corneal and tear physiology. Research in Dr. Fleiszig’s laboratory focuses on the pathogenesis of bacterial infection of the cornea. The long-term goals are to determine why patients who wear contact lenses are prone to infection and to develop novel preventative/therapeutic strategies. The approach being utilized is to work towards developing an understanding of how bacteria interact with the epithelial cells that line the surface of the cornea on which contact lenses are placed. Experiments are designed to dissect apart the defense mechanisms that normally protect the cornea against infection and how they might become compromised during contact lens wear. The laboratory is also working towards understanding the virulence mechanisms used the bacteria that infect the cornea when it is susceptible. Recent discoveries include that corneal epithelial cells are capable of ingesting and then killing bacteria, but that a major pathogen responsible for contact lens-related infections can resist this defense strategy of the cornea. Other new data show that while corneal cells are inherently susceptible to bacteria, there are in vivo factors in the eye that protect these cells against bacterial induced damage. The research is also beginning to reveal how these protective mechanisms can become adversely impacted by lens wear or by other forms of injury to the ocular surface. The methodologies being used within the laboratory include in vitro and in vivo models to study bacterial interactions with ocular surface cells and with tear fluid. These assays explore how bacteria invade and/or kill corneal epithelial cells and how they then migrate across the corneal epithelium to reach the underlying corneal stroma. Other experimental approaches are being used to dissect apart corneal defenses against infection, how they become compromised to cause susceptibility and to determine if the resultant knowledge can be utilized to prevent infections of the eye.
Representative Publications
Lee EJ, Evans DJ, Fleiszig SM. Role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
ExsA in penetration through corneal epithelium in a novel
in vivo model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2003. 44:5220-7.
Lee EJ, Truong TN, Mendoza MN, Fleiszig SM. A comparison
of invasive and cytotoxic Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain-induced
corneal disease responses to therapeutics. Curr Eye Res. 2003.
27:289-99.
Lee EJ, Cowell BA, Evans DJ, Fleiszig SM. Pseudomonas aeruginosa
in a murine scarification model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.
2003. 44:3892-8.
Zolfaghar I, Evans DJ, Fleiszig SM. Twitching motility contributes
to the role of pili in corneal infection caused by Pseudomonas
aeruginosa. Infect Immun. 2003. 71:5389-93.
Cowell BA, Twining SS, Hobden JA, Kwong MS, Fleiszig SM.
Mutation of lasA and lasB reduces Pseudomonas aeruginosa invasion
of epithelial cells. Microbiology. 2003. 149:2291-9.
Fleiszig SM, Kwong MS, Evans DJ. Modification of Pseudomonas
aeruginosa interactions with corneal epithelial cells by human
tear fluid. Infect Immun. 2003. 71:3866-74.
Fleiszig SM, Evans DJ. Contact lens infections: can they
ever be eradicated? Eye Contact Lens. 2003. 29(1 Suppl):S67-71;
discussion S83-4, S192-4.
Cowell BA, Weissman BA, Yeung KK, Johnson L, Ho S, Van R,
Bruckner D, Mondino B, Fleiszig SM. Phenotype of Pseudomonas
aeruginosa isolates causing corneal infection between 1997
and 2000. Cornea. 2003. 22:131-4.
Fleiszig SM, McNamara NA, Evans DJ. The tear film and defense
against infection. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2002. 506:523-30.
Fleiszig SM, Evans DJ. The pathogenesis of bacterial keratitis:
studies with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Clin Exp Optom. 2002.
85:271-8.
Evans DJ, Kuo TC, Kwong M, Van R, Fleiszig SM. Mutation
of csk, encoding the C-terminal Src kinase, reduces Pseudomonas
aeruginosa internalization by mammalian cells and enhances
bacterial cytotoxicity. Microb Pathog. 2002. 33:135-43. Complete
Medline Listing |
