Project description:The aim of this work was to access the early immune response triggered by R. microplus larvae attachment in previously selected resistant and susceptible animals in a bovine F2 population derived from Gyr (Bos indicus) x Holstein (Bos taurus) crosses. We used microarray data both to access the changes in gene expression over the course of the first 48 hours after tick infestation as constrasting the phenotypically diferent groups. From a bovine F2 population, six tick-resistant (R) and seven tick-susceptible (S) animals were used in this experiment. Skin biopses were taken at the feeding sites before infestation (0 hour), 24 and 48 hours after tick infestation in each animal.
Project description:Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are the most common illnesses transmitted by ticks, and the annual number of reported TBD cases continues to increase. The Asian longhorned tick, a vector associated with at least 30 human pathogens, is native to eastern Asia and recently reached the USA as an emerging disease threat. Newly identified tick-transmitted pathogens continue to be reported, raising concerns about how TBDs occur. Interestingly, tick can harbor pathogens without being affected themselves. For viral infections, ticks have their own immune systems that protect them from infection. Meanwhile, tick-borne viruses have evolved to avoid these defenses as they establish themselves within the vector. Here, we show in detail that infecting longhorned ticks with distinct arthropod-borne RNA viruses through two approaches natural blood feeding and injection, all induce the production of vsiRNAs. Dicer2-like homolog plays a role in regulating antiviral RNAi responses as knocking down of this gene enhanced viral replication. Furthermore, we demonstrate that tick antiviral RNAi responses are inhibited through expression heterologous VSR proteins in recombinant SINV. We identify both the virus and tick factors are critical components to understanding TBDs. Importantly, our study introduces a novel, in vivo virus-vector-mouse model system for exploring TBDs in the future.
Project description:Tick bites and tick-related diseases are on the rise. Diagnostic tests that identify well-characterised tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) possess limited capacity to address the causation of symptoms asso-ciated with poorly characterised tick-related illnesses, such as debilitating symptom complexes attributed to ticks (DSCATT) in Australia. Identification of local signals in tick-bitten skin that can be detected systemically in blood would have both clinical (diagnostic or prognostic) and research (mechanistic insight) utility, as a blood sample is more readily obtainable than tissue biopsies. We hypothesised that blood samples may reveal signals which reflect relevant local (tissue) events, and that the time course of these signals may align with local pathophysiology. As a first step to-wards testing this hypothesis, we contrasted molecular signatures in skin biopsies taken from the tick-bite location of human participants along with peripheral blood signatures obtained at the same time. This approach captures differentially expressed molecules across multiple omics da-tasets derived from peripheral blood (including cellular and cell-free transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and DNA methylation), and skin biopsies (spatial transcriptomics). Our data re-vealed that extracellular matrix organisation and platelet degranulation pathways were upregu-lated in skin within 72 hours of a tick bite. The same signals appeared in blood, where they then remained elevated for three months, displaying longitudinally consistent alterations of biological functions. Despite the limited sample size these data represent proof-of-concept that molecular events in the skin following a tick bite can be detectable systemically. This underscores the poten-tial value of blood samples, akin to liquid biopsy, to capture biomarkers reflecting local tissue processes.
Project description:This experiment was undertaken to document changes in gene expression in the skin of tick-resistant Brahman (Bos indicus) and tick-susceptible Holstein-Friesian (Bos taurus) cattle prior to, and following, infestation with the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Experiment Overall Design: RNA was extracted from skin samples of tick-naïve cattle (animals with no previous R.microplus exposure) and tick-infested cattle after a period of successive, heavy infestations with R. microplus. Skin samples taken from tick-infested animals were taken at sites where tick larvae (approximately 24 h old) were attached to the skin sample. Skin samples were of 8 mm diameter and full skin thickness (approximately 10 mm). RNA samples from 12 animals (3 tick-naive Holstein-Friesian, 3 tick-naive Brahman, 3 tick-infested Holstein-Friesian and 3 tick-infested Brahman) were processed and hybridised to individual slides.
Project description:Tick-Borne bacterial and protozoan animal pathogens shape the native microbiome within Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum and Rhipicephalus microplus tick vectors