Irina Spacova tenure track asst. professor

Research Irina Spacova

Research team

Expertise

Prof. Spacova investigates beneficial microorganisms found at the interface between the human body and the environment, especially in nature, the human respiratory tract and on the skin, and how these microorganisms can benefit human health. An important bioscience engineering goal is to develop sustainable microbiome-based solutions for urban health challenges. A key research expertise includes studying the interactions between beneficial bacteria and the host immune system, as well as invading viral and bacterial pathogens. Futhermore, genetic modification of beneficial bacteria and microbiome modulation by probiotics in health and disease is investigated in vitro and in clinical studies and citizen science projects.

Selection and cultivation of Microbe-Based Food Supplements on extraterrestrial environments to support human life on the Moon and Mars 01/11/2023 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Space agencies are developing regenerative life support systems that provide air, water, and staple foods through hydroponic cultivation of a limited number of plants using crew waste as fertilizer, but these, mostly vegan, diets lack a number of essential nutrients found in a balanced diet. The aim of this project is to develop sustainable microbial-based food supplements for space travelers on long-duration space missions to the Moon and Mars. We will research and select suitable microbial-based food supplements, providing essential nutrients and vitamins to maintain human health and wellbeing, and still be active under stressful space conditions, including chronic exposure to reduced gravity and cosmic radiation. The growth and nutritional content of the microbial products and their safety and efficacy for human consumption in space will be evaluated, also by using reduced gravity simulators and space radiation analogs. In addition, it will be explored how on-site substrates (e.g. CO2 gas, regolith, etc.) could be used. The final outcome of the project will be a set of microbial strains or products that can be used as a reliable supplement to complete a space diet, improving the viability of human colonies on celestial bodies, and a first step towards a concept on how such a DIY production payload could look like.

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  • Research Project

The interaction between viral infections and the airway microbiome in young cystic fibrosis patients. 01/10/2023 - 30/09/2027

Abstract

Introduction: Most children are diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at a young age, nowadays often through neonatal screening. CF is associated with frequent respiratory tract infections. These exacerbations are often viral induced at a young age. Frequent airway infections lead to early colonization of the airways with pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, infection leads to inflammation and dysregulation of the mucus production via mucin upregulation. The result is disease progression with destruction of the normal airway structure and lung tissue. Objectives: To gain insights into the mechanisms by which viral infections leading to respiratory exacerbations induce a more pathogenic airway microbiome in young children with CF, from birth to preschool age, through airway inflammation and mucin regulation. This will help formulate informed treatment strategies both at the level of pathogenic as well as potentially beneficial microbiota members in the CF airways. Methods: Young children with CF from birth to the age of 5 years will be included at CF clinic in UZA. Oropharyngeal swabs will be collected at set time points in a longitudinal way to study the dynamics of the airway microbiome and inflammatory markers and mucins. At the moment of exacerbations extra swabs will be collected to investigate the interactions of viruses and bacteria and their influence on increased inflammation and mucin production. These data will be linked to clinical outcome measures such as lung clearance index and questionnaires on quality of life. The final part of the project exists of an in vitro study investigating the effects of specific CF respiratory microbiota members as such or in combination with viruses on TLR induction, transcriptional factor activation, cytokine and interferon signalling stimulation, and ultimately on the virus-associated infection and cytopathic effects.

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  • Research Project

Citizen Science project 'De Oorzaak' 01/08/2023 - 30/06/2025

Abstract

From noise-sensitive areas to oases of silence: with the large-scale citizen science project De Oorzaak, De Morgen (DM), the University Hospital Antwerp (UZA) and UAntwerpen are focusing on noise and noise perception in an urban environment. In 2024-2025, we will investigate how residents of different neighborhoods in Antwerp, Ghent and Leuven appreciate the environmental noise present. By means of questionnaires (subjective), smart sound sensors (objective) and medical research (UAntwerpen and UZA) we will classify which sounds are heard, what sound level these sounds have, how these sounds are experienced and what impact they have on health, stress, sleep and quality of life.

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  • Research Project

Antimicrobial potential of Streptococcus salivarius as probiotic for the upper respiratory tract. 01/11/2022 - 31/10/2024

Abstract

The microbiota of the upper respiratory tract (URT) is emerging as a gatekeeper to respiratory health, but it is currently underexplored at the functional level compared to other body sites. URT diseases such as otitis media (OM) form leading causes for antibiotic prescription, while the functional role of bacteria in the disease pathology is still not clear. Consequently, new insights into the functional biology and microbial ecology of OM as a microbial disease are needed to design novel therapeutic strategies. Microbiome sequencing of the URT revealed Streptococcus salivarius as one of the primary colonizers of the oral cavity shortly after birth. It is also significantly more abundant in the nasopharynx of healthy children compared to children with chronic OM. Endogenous beneficial bacteria can indeed play a pivotal role in URT health through inhibition of respiratory pathogens and immunomodulation. As a key beneficial commensal, specific strains of S. salivarius could have high potential as URT probiotics. These strains can produce secreted secondary metabolites with bacteriostatic or bactericidal activity, but their role in probiotic effects is currently underexplored. This project will focus on exploring the metabolic properties and functional potential of S. salivarius isolates, which will be evaluated through dedicated in vitro culturing systems, phenotypic screening assays and comparative genomics, combined with an innovative proof-of-concept study in humans.

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  • Research Project

The first cornerstones towards microbiome-friendly underwear. 01/11/2021 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

The urogenital microbiome is a crucial microbiome for human health and reproduction. Lifestyle and hygiene practices are suggested to have a strong influence on the urogenital microbiome. For instance, humans are the only animals that wear clothes, and certain underwear fabrics have been correlated with higher risk of urogenital disease. However, the causal relationship between urogenital health and underwear fabrics is underexplored, especially regarding how underwear could influence the urogenital microbiome. In this project, we first aim to correlate the use of specific underwear fabrics with vaginal health and microbiome, exploring the dataset generated by the host lab from more than 3300 Isala study participants. In parallel, a microbiological in vitro platform will be designed for the evaluation of microbiome-friendly characteristics of (underwear) fabrics through the use of defined microbial communities. Subsequently, a key part of the project will consist of a large-scale study that will explore in vivo interactions between specific underwear fabrics, the vaginal, vulvar and skin microbiome and urogenital health. The ultimate application aim is to better understand how underwear fabrics can affect female health, and implement microbiome-friendly underwear through future collaborations between the academic, health and textile sectors.

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  • Research Project

Genetic screening, analysis and engineering of vitamin production in non-gut lactobacilli. 01/11/2021 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Vitamin producing microorganisms are emerging as a natural, cost-effective and sustainable alternative to chemical vitamin production. To date, they have mainly been explored in the gut and fermented food, however, recently, the host group isolated several vaginal lactobacilli capable of vitamin B2 (over)production. Lactobacilli have a long history of safe use and are highly suitable for application as probiotics or for biofortification of foods, yet they are generally still applied as 'black boxes', without full understanding of the genes and molecules that drive their beneficial action. In this project, we will perform in silico and in vitro functional screening of the host group's large biobank of more than 1000 human bacterial isolates with the innovative goal to identify and characterize vitamin producing lactobacilli from untapped non-gut body niches (vagina, upper respiratory tract), and fermented foods. Next, to better understand and enhance the vitamin producing capacity of lactobacilli, untargeted and targeted genetic modification strategies will be implemented. A specific unique and challenging focus will be on the functionalization of the novel CRISPR-Cas9 based tool 'Prime editing' in lactobacilli for targeted genetic alterations leading to vitamin overproduction. Overproduction phenotypes, naturally isolated or resulting from genetic engineering approaches, can then be used in food/feed, as supplements and in human therapeutic applications.

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  • Research Project

Analysis of greening projects in healthcare as nature's solution for health/wellbeing as a function of improved scientific evidence and a roadmap for future quality site realizations. 16/01/2023 - 16/11/2023

Abstract

Nature and biodiversity not only have a positive impact on human health, they are also essential for a good and healthy life. Although this theme is receiving increasing attention within healthcare, nature solutions within healthcare still often exist as isolated initiatives without a structural scientific framework. Hence the need to develop a scientifically based evaluation methodology that can generate information and provide evidence regarding health gains to be achieved on the one hand and ecosystem strengthening on the other. In this study, we elaborate on the aforementioned issues and propose a conceptual framework that will serve as the foundation of the project. In doing so, we also introduce some additional approaches that were not called for as such in the specifications, such as a training perspective and considering the role of the microbiome. Furthermore, we deal with the different phases described by the client in a methodological way where we always make the connection with the methodology of intervention mapping that we will apply in an iterative process.

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  • Research Project

Bead-enabled capturing and fluorescent labeling to quantify direct respiratory virus-microbiota interactions. 01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023

Abstract

Amidst the global pandemic, there is an acute urgency to understand which factors contribute to respiratory disease severity. Most research focuses on viral interactions with the host immune system. However, recent data shows that microbial communities inhabiting the airways (the airway microbiota) can influence viral infection through direct interactions with invading viral particles. This project aims to characterize the capacity of airway microbiota to bind the model respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that puts more than 3 million children in the hospital every year. Specific methodology for targeted bacterial isolation from human nasopharyngeal samples will be implemented. Fluorescent labeling techniques will be used to visualize and quantify RSV binding to bacteria. Finally, the impact of this RSV binding on viral infectivity in host cells will be assessed using tripartite bacteria-virus-host cell assays. Implementation of the methodology developed in this project will provide insights into the ability of the resident airway microbiota to directly interact with invading viruses. This will help understand microbial interactions influencing respiratory disease severity, and can later be broadly applied to a wide range of bacteria and viruses from other body niches.

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  • Research Project

Unraveling direct interactions between the airway microbiota and respiratory syncytial virus. 01/10/2021 - 31/12/2023

Abstract

Viruses infecting the respiratory tract encounter a diverse resident airway microbial community (the microbiota). While the majority of research on the host-virus-microbiota nexus focuses on virus and microbiota interplay with host immunity, the impact of airway microbiota on viruses through direct interactions is poorly understood. The goal of this project is to come to a new understanding of how direct microbiota-virus interactions in the airways influence viral pathogenesis using respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as a model. Innovative targeted isolation of RSV-binding bacterial strains from the airways of infants with RSV disease will be performed, in parallel with an in-depth functional and species-level taxonomic airway microbiome analysis. Focusing on beneficial bacteria, the effects of direct bacterial interactions with RSV will be analyzed using a suite of novel and state-of-the-art in vitro assays tailored to investigating the host-microbiota-virus nexus. Localization and properties of key anti-RSV bacterial compounds will be investigated. The effects observed at microbiome level and in vitro will be aligned with in vivo read-outs in an infant mouse model of RSV infection, to conclude whether they translate into clinically relevant outcomes. Understanding the role of direct interactions between airway microbiota and viruses will add a potentially groundbreaking new dimension to the interplay within the host-virus-microbiota nexus in the respiratory niche.

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  • Research Project