Project description:Chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) is an increasing problem in Sri Lanka especially among the farming community. The etiologies although uncertain, have been associated with occupational and environmental factors. The expression pattern of genes in blood of these CKDu patients in an endemic region of Sri Lanka was analyzed compared to healthy individuals from a non-endemic region to see any expression changes that could be associated to environmental factors. Pattern of expression changes could lead to either strengthen or weaken current hypotheses for the causes.
Project description:In Asia, oral cancer (OC) and oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) constitute major health problems linked to use of betel quid. This work performed CGH genome-wide analysis of OC (12 from India, 12 from Sri Lanka) and OSF (6 from India) cases with normal controls.
Project description:The impact of global climate change on the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases is the subject of extensive debate. The transmission of mosquito-borne viral diseases is particularly complex, with climatic variables directly affecting many parameters associated with the prevalence of disease vectors. While evidence shows that warmer temperatures often decrease the extrinsic incubation period of an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), exposure to cooler temperatures often predisposes disease vector mosquitoes to higher infection rates. RNA interference pathways are essential to antiviral immunity in the mosquito; however, few experiments have explored the effects of temperature on the RNAi machinery.
Project description:The impact of global climate change on the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases is the subject of extensive debate. The transmission of mosquito-borne viral diseases is particularly complex, with climatic variables directly affecting many parameters associated with the prevalence of disease vectors. While evidence shows that warmer temperatures often decrease the extrinsic incubation period of an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus), exposure to cooler temperatures often predisposes disease vector mosquitoes to higher infection rates. RNA interference pathways are essential to antiviral immunity in the mosquito; however, few experiments have explored the effects of temperature on the RNAi machinery. Total small RNAs (miRNAs, siRNAs, piRNAs, etc.) were isolated and sequenced from the heads of sensor strain Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, or from the whole bodies of CHIKV-infected Aedes albopictus mosquitoes 8 hours post infection. Mosquitoes were grown at 18C or 28C in replicates of 1 (Ae. aegypti) or 3 (Ae. albopictus).
Project description:We performed a comparative immunology case study of client-owned dogs to determine if immune and skin gene expression profiles in spontaneous canine VKH and vitiligo mirror those observed in human autoimmune pigmentary diseases.
Project description:Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a tick-borne infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Dogs are at high risk of exposure to ticks and tick-borne pathogens, including B. burgdorferi. Immunodiagnostic assays are usually based on whole-cell preparations of B. burgdorferi as substrate and, consequently, interpretation of results is confounded by antibody cross-reactivity between borrelial antigens and other bacterial species, as well as the anti-LB vaccination status of the dog. For this study, we examined sera from 33 dogs that were experimentally infected with B. burgdorferi through tick bite. These sera were compared with sera from uninfected dogs in their reactivities to 72 different recombinant B. burgdorferi antigens and 24 OspC protein types on a protein microarray. Amongst antigens frequently recognized by infected dogs were several known to be immunogens for humans, such as Decorin-binding protein A (BBA25), BBA64, fibronectin-binding protein (BBK32), VlsE, Erp and Bdr, CRASP proteins, OspC proteins and some flagellar antigens. Of special interest were the novel antigens BBB14 and BB0844, both hypothetical lipoproteins about which very little is currently known, and that were frequently and strongly recognized by infected dog sera. The antibody response of B. burgdorferi-infected dogs presents both similarities and differences from human counterparts, and both can be important for improvement of canine LB diagnosis and vaccine development. Antibody profiling was performed on sera from dogs experimentally-infected with B. burgdorferi and unexposed controls against antigens of B. burgdorferi. Thirty-three serum samples from experimental infections, and 5 unexposed controls were probed on a protein microarray displaying 24 OspC proteins of B. burgdorferi .
Project description:Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a tick-borne infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Dogs are at high risk of exposure to ticks and tick-borne pathogens, including B. burgdorferi. Immunodiagnostic assays are usually based on whole-cell preparations of B. burgdorferi as substrate and, consequently, interpretation of results is confounded by antibody cross-reactivity between borrelial antigens and other bacterial species, as well as the anti-LB vaccination status of the dog. For this study, we examined sera from 33 dogs that were experimentally infected with B. burgdorferi through tick bite. These sera were compared with sera from uninfected dogs in their reactivities to 72 different recombinant B. burgdorferi polypeptides on a protein microarray. Amongst antigens frequently recognized by infected dogs were several known to be immunogens for humans, such as Decorin-binding protein A (BBA25), BBA64, fibronectin-binding protein (BBK32), VlsE, Erp and Bdr, CRASP proteins, OspC proteins and some flagellar antigens. Of special interest were the novel antigens BBB14 and BB0844, both hypothetical lipoproteins about which very little is currently known, and that were frequently and strongly recognized by infected dog sera. The antibody response of B. burgdorferi-infected dogs presents both similarities and differences from human counterparts, and both can be important for improvement of canine LB diagnosis and vaccine development. Antibody profiling was performed on sera from dogs experimentally-infected with B. burgdorferi and unexposed controls against antigens of B. burgdorferi. Thirty-three serum samples from experimental infections, and 6 unexposed controls were probed on a protein microarray displaying 72 unique proteins of B. burgdorferi .
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.