Last data update: May 06, 2024. (Total: 46732 publications since 2009)
Records 1-7 (of 7 Records) |
Query Trace: Zeidner NS[original query] |
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Transgene expression in tick cells using Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Machado-Ferreira E , Balsemao-Pires E , Dietrich G , Hojgaard A , Vizzoni VF , Scoles G , Bell-Sakyi L , Piesman J , Zeidner NS , Soares CA . Exp Appl Acarol 2015 67 (2) 269-87 Ticks transmit infectious agents to humans and other animals. Genetic manipulation of vectors like ticks could enhance the development of alternative disease control strategies. Transgene expression using the phytopathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been shown to promote the genetic modification of non-plant cells. In the present work we developed T-DNA constructs for A. tumefaciens to mediate transgene expression in HeLa cells as well as Rhipicephalus microplus tick cells. Translational fusions eGfp:eGfp or Salp15:eGfp, including the enhanced-green fluorescent protein and the Ixodes scapularis salivary factor SALP15 genes, were constructed using the CaMV 35S (cauliflower mosaic virus) promoter, "PBm" tick promoter (R. microplus pyrethroid metabolizing esterase gene) or the Simian Virus SV40 promoter. Confocal microscopy, RT-PCR and Western-blot assays demonstrated transgene(s) expression in both cell lines. Transgene expression was also achieved in vivo, in both R. microplus and I. scapularis larvae utilizing a soaking method including the A. tumefaciens donor cells and confirmed by nested-RT-PCR showing eGfp or Salp15 poly-A-mRNA(s). This strategy opens up a new avenue to express exogenous genes in ticks and represents a potential breakthrough for the study of tick-host pathophysiology. |
Immunization with Culex tarsalis mosquito salivary gland extract modulates West Nile virus infection and disease in mice
Machain-Williams C , Reagan K , Wang T , Zeidner NS , Blair CD . Viral Immunol 2013 26 (1) 84-92 Mosquito salivary proteins inoculated during blood feeding modulate the host immune response, which can contribute to the pathogenesis of viruses transmitted by mosquito bites. Previous studies with mosquito bite-naive mice indicated that exposure to arthropod salivary proteins resulted in a shift toward a Th2-type immune response in flavivirus-susceptible mice but not flavivirus-resistant animals. In the study presented here, we tested the hypothesis that immunization with high doses of Culex tarsalis salivary gland extracts (SGE) with an adjuvant would prevent Th2 polarization after mosquito bite and enhance resistance to mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus (WNV). Our results indicate that mice immunized with Cx. tarsalis SGE produced increased levels of Th1-type cytokines (IFNgamma and TNFalpha) after challenge with mosquito-transmitted WNV and exhibited both a delay in infection of the central nervous system (CNS) and significantly lower WNV brain titers compared to mock-immunized mice. Moreover, mortality was significantly reduced in the SGE-immunized mice, as none of these mice died, compared to mortality of 37.5% of mock-vaccinated mice by 8 days after infected mosquito bite. These results suggest that development of a mosquito salivary protein vaccine might be a strategy to control arthropod-borne viral pathogens such as WNV. |
A prevalent alpha-proteobacterium Paracoccus sp. in a population of the Cayenne ticks (Amblyomma cajennense) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Machado-Ferreira E , Piesman J , Zeidner NS , Soares CA . Genet Mol Biol 2012 35 (4) 862-7 As Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is the most common tick-borne disease in South America, the presence of Rickettsia sp. in Amblyomma ticks is a possible indication of its endemicity in certain geographic regions. In the present work, bacterial DNA sequences related to Rickettsia amblyommii genes in A. dubitatum ticks, collected in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, were discovered. Simultaneously, Paracoccus sp. was detected in aproximately 77% of A. cajennense specimens collected in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is the first report of Paracoccus sp. infection in a specific tick population, and raises the possibility of these bacteria being maintained and/or transmitted by ticks. Whether Paracoccus sp. represents another group of pathogenic Rhodobacteraceae or simply plays a role in A. cajennense physiology, is unknown. The data also demonstrate that the rickettsial 16S rRNA specific primers used for Rickettsia spp. screening can also detect Paracoccus alpha-proteobacteria infection in biological samples. Hence, a PCR-RFLP strategy is presented to distinguish between these two groups of bacteria. |
Immunization with adenoviral-vectored tick salivary gland proteins (SALPs) in a murine model of Lyme borreliosis
Ullmann AJ , Dolan MC , Sackal CA , Fikrig E , Piesman J , Zeidner NS . Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2012 4 160-3 Prior exposure of vertebrate hosts to tick salivary proteins can induce specific immunity to tick infestation, as well as affording protection against tick-transmitted Borrelia burgdorferi infection in the mammalian host. Vaccination using an adenovirus expression system to deliver 4 tick salivary proteins (Ad-Salps) derived from Ixodes scapularis, Salp15, Salp25A, Salp25D, and Isac, was explored. Results indicate that vaccination with tick salivary proteins in an adenoviral vector can be used to modulate a Th1 response in the host and partially control spirochete load in immunized mice after infected tick challenge. |
Elimination of Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in rodent reservoirs and Ixodes scapularis ticks using a doxycycline hyclate-laden bait
Dolan MC , Schulze TL , Jordan RA , Dietrich G , Schulze CJ , Hojgaard A , Ullmann AJ , Sackal C , Zeidner NS , Piesman J . Am J Trop Med Hyg 2011 85 (6) 1114-20 A field trial was conducted in a Lyme disease-endemic area of New Jersey to determine the efficacy of a doxycyline hyclate rodent bait to prophylactically protect and cure small-mammal reservoirs and reduce infection rates in questing Ixodes scapularis ticks for Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The doxycycline-laden bait was formulated at a concentration of 500 mg/kg and delivered during the immature tick feeding season in rodent-targeted bait boxes. The percentage of infected small mammals recovered from treated areas after 2 years of treatment was reduced by 86.9% for B. burgdorferi and 74% for A. phagocytophilum. Infection rates in questing nymphal ticks for both B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum were reduced by 94.3% and 92%, respectively. Results from this study indicate that doxycycline-impregnated bait is an effective means of reducing infection rates for B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum in both rodent reservoirs and questing I. scapularis ticks. |
Association of human immune response to Aedes aegypti salivary proteins with dengue disease severity
Machain-Williams C , Mammen MP Jr , Zeidner NS , Beaty BJ , Prenni JE , Nisalak A , Blair CD . Parasite Immunol 2011 34 (1) 15-22 Dengue viruses (DENV; family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and can cause dengue fever (DF), a relatively benign disease, or more severe dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). Arthropod saliva contains proteins delivered into the bite wound that can modulate the host haemostatic and immune responses to facilitate the intake of a blood meal. The potential effects on DENV infection of previous exposure to Ae. aegypti salivary proteins has not been investigated. We collected Ae. aegypti saliva, concentrated the proteins, and fractionated them by non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). By use of immunoblots we analysed reactivity with the mosquito salivary proteins (MSP) of sera from 96 Thai children diagnosed with secondary DENV infections leading either to DF or DHF, or with no DENV infection, and found that different proportions of each patient group had serum antibodies reactive to specific Ae. aegypti salivary proteins. Our results suggest that prior exposure to MSP might play a role in the outcome of DENV infection in humans. |
Molecular identification of Salp15, a key salivary gland protein in the transmission of lyme disease spirochetes, from Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae)
Hojgaard A , Biketov SF , Shtannikov AV , Zeidner NS , Piesman J . J Med Entomol 2009 46 (6) 1458-63 Salp15 is a multifunctional protein, vital to the tick in its need to obtain vertebrate host blood without stimulating a host inflammatory and immune response. The Salpl5 protein from both Ixodes scapularis Say and Ixodes ricinus (L.), the principal vectors of the Lyme disease spirochete in eastern North America and Europe, respectively, have been well characterized and found to bind the murine CD4 receptor, DC-SIGN, and the OspC protein of Borrelia burgdorferi. In the current study, we characterized the full salp15 gene in Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls and Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, the principal vectors of Lyme disease spirochetes in western North America and Asia, respectively. In comparing the Salp15 protein of all four principal vector ticks of public health importance for the transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes, we find the 53 C-terminal amino acids to have a high degree of similarity. There are at least three clades in the tree of Salp15 and its homologues, probably representing a multigene family. |
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