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Nkg2d Regulation Of Lung Pathology And Dendritic Cell Function Following Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, Huan Liu, Andrew R. Osterburg, Jennifer Flury, Shuo Huang, Francis X. Mccormack, Stephania A. Cormier, Michael T. Borchers Jan 2018

Nkg2d Regulation Of Lung Pathology And Dendritic Cell Function Following Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, Huan Liu, Andrew R. Osterburg, Jennifer Flury, Shuo Huang, Francis X. Mccormack, Stephania A. Cormier, Michael T. Borchers

Faculty Publications

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. Background. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of respiratory tract infection in vulnerable populations. Natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DC) are important for the effector functions of both cell types following infection. Methods. Wild-type and NKG2D-deficient mice were infected with RSV. Lung pathology was assessed by histology. Dendritic cell function and phenotype were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. The expression of NKG2D ligands on lung and lymph node DCs was measured by immunostaining and …


Effects Of Nonnative Rainbow Trout On Two Species Of Endemic Mexican Amphibians, A. B. Estrella Zamora, Geoffrey R. Smith, J. A. Lemos-Espinal, G. A. Woolrich-Pina, R. Montoya Ayala Jan 2018

Effects Of Nonnative Rainbow Trout On Two Species Of Endemic Mexican Amphibians, A. B. Estrella Zamora, Geoffrey R. Smith, J. A. Lemos-Espinal, G. A. Woolrich-Pina, R. Montoya Ayala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Characterization Of Pathogenic Vibrio Parahaemolyticus From The Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Arlene J. Chen, Nur A. Hasan, Bradd J. Haley, Elisa Taviani, Mitch Tarnowski, Kathy Brohawn, Crystal N. Johnson, Rita R. Colwell, Anwar Huq Dec 2017

Characterization Of Pathogenic Vibrio Parahaemolyticus From The Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Arlene J. Chen, Nur A. Hasan, Bradd J. Haley, Elisa Taviani, Mitch Tarnowski, Kathy Brohawn, Crystal N. Johnson, Rita R. Colwell, Anwar Huq

Faculty Publications

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis associated with seafood consumption in the United States. Here we investigated the presence of virulence factors and genetic diversity of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from water, oyster, and sediment samples from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Of more than 2,350 presumptive Vibrio collected, more than half were confirmed through PCR as V. parahaemolyticus, with 10 encoding both tdh and trh and 6 encoding only trh. Potentially pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus were then serotyped with O1:KUT and O3:KUT predominant. Furthermore, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed and the constructed dendrogram displayed high diversity, as did results …


Species Are Not Most Abundant In The Centre Of Their Geographic Range Or Climatic Niche, Tad Dallas, Robin R. Decker, Alan Hastings Dec 2017

Species Are Not Most Abundant In The Centre Of Their Geographic Range Or Climatic Niche, Tad Dallas, Robin R. Decker, Alan Hastings

Faculty Publications

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS The pervasive idea that species should be most abundant in the centre of their geographic range or centre of their climatic niche is a key assumption in many existing ecological hypotheses and has been declared a general macroecological rule. However, empirical support for decreasing population abundance with increasing distance from geographic range or climatic niche centre (distance–abundance relationships) remains fairly weak. We examine over 1400 bird, mammal, fish and tree species to provide a thorough test of distance–abundance relationships, and their associations with species traits and phylogenetic relationships. We failed to detect consistent …


Msaabcr Operon Is Involved In Persister Cell Formation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Shanti Pandey, Mohamed O. Elasri Nov 2017

Msaabcr Operon Is Involved In Persister Cell Formation In Staphylococcus Aureus, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Shanti Pandey, Mohamed O. Elasri

Faculty Publications

Background

Persister cells comprise a phenotypic variant that shows extreme antibiotic tolerance resulting in treatment failures of bacterial infections. While this phenomenon has posed a great threat in public health, mechanisms underlying their formation in Staphylococcus aureus remain largely unknown. Increasing evidences of the presence of persister cells in recalcitrant infections underscores the great urgency to unravel the mechanism by which these cells develop. Previously, we characterized msaABCR operon that plays roles in regulation of virulence, biofilm development and antibiotic resistance. We also characterized the function of MsaB protein and showed that MsaB is a putative transcription factor that binds …


The Association Between Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease And Subsequent Rheumatoid Arthritis Occurrence: A Nested Case–Control Study From Taiwan, Herng-Ching Lin, Sudha Xirasagar, Cha-Ze Lee, Chung-Chien Huang, Chao-Hung Chen Nov 2017

The Association Between Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease And Subsequent Rheumatoid Arthritis Occurrence: A Nested Case–Control Study From Taiwan, Herng-Ching Lin, Sudha Xirasagar, Cha-Ze Lee, Chung-Chien Huang, Chao-Hung Chen

Faculty Publications

Objective Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common comorbidity among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While GORD has been attributed to the antirheumatic medications, no studies of human cohorts have investigated a link between GORD and RA. This study investigates whether GORD is associated with a subsequent RA diagnosis over a 5-year follow-up using a population-based dataset.

Setting Taiwan

Participants We used data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. The study group consisted of 13 645 patients with an ambulatory claim showing a GORD diagnosis. We used propensity score matching to select 13 645 comparison patients (one per study …


Antibiotic Stewardship: The Role Of Clinical Nurses And Nurse Educators, Sharon Sumner, Sandra Forsyth, Katreena Collette Merrill, Caroline Taylor, Todd Vento, John Veillette, Brandon Webb Nov 2017

Antibiotic Stewardship: The Role Of Clinical Nurses And Nurse Educators, Sharon Sumner, Sandra Forsyth, Katreena Collette Merrill, Caroline Taylor, Todd Vento, John Veillette, Brandon Webb

Faculty Publications

Within 10 years of the breakthrough development of Penicillin, antibiotic resistance was reported. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention (CDC, 2017), each year 2 million cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria occur resulting in approximately 23,000 deaths in the United States. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reports that approximately 25,000 people die from antibiotic resistant organisms annually in the European Union (WHO, 2014). To combat these alarming trends, antibiotic stewardship (AS) programs have been strongly recommended by the WHO, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the …


Bottom-Up Control Of Parasites, David S. Johnson, Richard W. Heard Oct 2017

Bottom-Up Control Of Parasites, David S. Johnson, Richard W. Heard

Faculty Publications

Parasitism is a fundamental ecological interaction. Yet we understand relatively little about the ecological role of parasites compared to the role of free-living organisms. Bottom-up theory predicts that resource enhancement will increase the abundance and biomass of free-living organisms. Similarly, parasite abundance and biomass should increase in an ecosystem with resource enhancement. We tested this hypothesis in a landscape-level experiment in which salt marshes (60,000 m2 each) received elevated nutrient concentrations via flooding tidal waters for 11 yr to mimic eutrophication. Nutrient enrichment elevated the densities of the talitrid amphipod, Orchestia grillus, and the density and biomass of its trematode …


The Parasite Extinction Assessment & Red List: An Open-Source, Online Biodiversity Database For Neglected Symbionts, Colin J. Carlson, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Anna J. Phillips, Kevin R. Burgio, Giovanni Castaldo, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Tad Dallas, Jorge Doña, Nyeema Harris, Roger Jovani, Zhongqi Miao, Heather Proctor, Hyun Seok Yoon, Wayne M. Getz Sep 2017

The Parasite Extinction Assessment & Red List: An Open-Source, Online Biodiversity Database For Neglected Symbionts, Colin J. Carlson, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Anna J. Phillips, Kevin R. Burgio, Giovanni Castaldo, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Tad Dallas, Jorge Doña, Nyeema Harris, Roger Jovani, Zhongqi Miao, Heather Proctor, Hyun Seok Yoon, Wayne M. Getz

Faculty Publications

Parasite conservation is a rapidly growing field at the intersection of ecology, epidemiology, parasitology, and public health. The overwhelming diversity of parasitic life on earth, and recent work showing that parasites and other symbionts face severe extinction risk, necessitates infrastructure for parasite conservation assessments. Here, we describe the release of the Parasite Extinction Assessment & Red List (PEARL) version 1.0, an open-access database of conservation assessments and distributional data for almost 500 macroparasitic invertebrates. The current approach to vulnerability assessment is based on range shifts and loss from climate change, and will be expanded as additional data (e.g., host-parasite associations …


Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz Sep 2017

Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz

Faculty Publications

Climate change is a well-documented driver of both wildlife extinction and disease emergence, but the negative impacts of climate change on parasite diversity are undocumented. We compiled the most comprehensive spatially explicit data set available for parasites, projected range shifts in a changing climate, and estimated extinction rates for eight major parasite clades. On the basis of 53,133 occurrences capturing the geographic ranges of 457 parasite species, conservative model projections suggest that 5 to 10% of these species are committed to extinction by 2070 from climate-driven habitat loss alone. We find no evidence that parasites with zoonotic potential have a …


Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad A. Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz Sep 2017

Parasite Biodiversity Faces Extinction And Redistribution In A Changing Climate, Colin J. Carlson, Kevin R. Burgio, Eric R. Dougherty, Anna J. Phillips, Veronica M. Bueno, Christopher F. Clements, Giovanni Castaldo, Tad A. Dallas, Carrie A. Cizauskas, Graeme S. Cumming, Jorge Doña, Nyeema C. Harris, Roger Jovani, Sergey Mironov, Oliver C. Muellerklein, Heather C. Proctor, Wayne M. Getz

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved. Climate change is a well-documented driver of both wildlife extinction and disease emergence, but the negative impacts of climate change on parasite diversity are undocumented. We compiled the most comprehensive spatially explicit data set available for parasites, projected range shifts in a changing climate, and estimated extinction rates for eight major parasite clades. On the basis of 53, 133 occurrences capturing the geographic ranges of 457 parasite species, conservative model projections suggest that 5 to 10% of these species are committed to extinction by 2070 from climate-driven habitat loss alone. We find …


Evolution Of Alu Subfamily Structure In The Saimiri Lineage Of New World Monkeys, Mark Batzer, Jasmine N. Baker, Jerilyn A. Walker, John A. Vanchiere, Kacie R. Philippe, Corey P. St. Romain, Paulina Gonzalez-Quiroga, Michael W. Denham, Jackson R. Mierl, Miriam K. Konkel Sep 2017

Evolution Of Alu Subfamily Structure In The Saimiri Lineage Of New World Monkeys, Mark Batzer, Jasmine N. Baker, Jerilyn A. Walker, John A. Vanchiere, Kacie R. Philippe, Corey P. St. Romain, Paulina Gonzalez-Quiroga, Michael W. Denham, Jackson R. Mierl, Miriam K. Konkel

Faculty Publications

Squirrelmonkeys,Saimiri,arecommonlyfoundinzoologicalparksandusedinbiomedicalresearch.S.boliviensisisthemostcommon species for research; however, there is little information about genome evolution within this primate lineage. Here, we reconstruct the Alu element sequence amplification and evolution in the genus Saimiri at the time of divergence within the family Cebidae lineage. Alu elements are the most successful SINE (Short Interspersed Element) in primates. Here, we report 46 Saimiri lineage specificAlusubfamilies.RetrotranspositionactivityinvolvedsubfamiliesrelatedtoAluS,AluTa10,andAluTa15.Manysubfamiliesare simultaneously active within the Saimiri lineage, a finding which supports the stealth model of Alu amplification. We also report a high resolution analysis of Alu subfamilies within the S. boliviensis genome [saiBol1].


Evolution Of Alu Subfamily Structure In The Saimiri Lineage Of New World Monkeys, Jasmine N. Baker, Jerilyn A. Walker, John A. Vanchiere, Kacie R. Phillippe, Corey P. St Romain, Paulina Gonzalez-Quiroga, Michael W. Denham, Jackson R. Mierl, Miriam K. Konkel, Mark A. Batzer Sep 2017

Evolution Of Alu Subfamily Structure In The Saimiri Lineage Of New World Monkeys, Jasmine N. Baker, Jerilyn A. Walker, John A. Vanchiere, Kacie R. Phillippe, Corey P. St Romain, Paulina Gonzalez-Quiroga, Michael W. Denham, Jackson R. Mierl, Miriam K. Konkel, Mark A. Batzer

Faculty Publications

© The Author 2017. Squirrel monkeys, Saimiri, are commonly found in zoological parks and used in biomedical research. S. Boliviensis is the most common species for research; however, there is little information about genome evolution within this primate lineage. Here, we reconstruct the Alu element sequence amplification and evolution in the genus Saimiri at the time of divergence within the family Cebidae lineage. Alu elements are the most successful SINE (Short Interspersed Element) in primates. Here, we report 46 Saimiri lineage specific Alu subfamilies. Retrotransposition activity involved subfamilies related to AluS, AluTa10, and AluTa15. Many subfamilies are simultaneously active within …


Cannibalism And Infectious Disease: Friends Or Foes?, Benjamin G. Van Allen, Forrest P. Dillemuth, Andrew J. Flick, Matthew J. Faldyn, David R. Clark, Volker H.W. Rudolf, Bret D. Elderd Sep 2017

Cannibalism And Infectious Disease: Friends Or Foes?, Benjamin G. Van Allen, Forrest P. Dillemuth, Andrew J. Flick, Matthew J. Faldyn, David R. Clark, Volker H.W. Rudolf, Bret D. Elderd

Faculty Publications

© 2017 by The University of Chicago. Cannibalism occurs in a majority of both carnivorous and noncarnivorous animal taxa from invertebrates to mammals. Similarly, infectious parasites are ubiquitous in nature. Thus, interactions between cannibalism and disease occur regularly. While some adaptive benefits of cannibalism are clear, the prevailing view is that the risk of parasite transmission due to cannibalism would increase disease spread and, thus, limit the evolutionary extent of cannibalism throughout the animal kingdom. In contrast, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the other half of the interaction between cannibalism and disease, that is, how cannibalism affects parasites. …


Amblyomma Maculatum Secis Binding Protein 2 And Putative Selenoprotein P Are Indispensable For Pathogen Replication And Tick Fecundity, Khemraj Budachetri, Gary Crispell, Shahid Karim Sep 2017

Amblyomma Maculatum Secis Binding Protein 2 And Putative Selenoprotein P Are Indispensable For Pathogen Replication And Tick Fecundity, Khemraj Budachetri, Gary Crispell, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Selenium, a vital trace element, is incorporated into selenoproteins to produce selenocysteine. Our previous studies have revealed an adaptive co-evolutionary process that has enabled the spotted fever-causing tick-borne pathogen Rickettsia parkeri to survive by manipulating an antioxidant defense system associated with selenium, which includes a full set of selenoproteins and other antioxidants in ticks. Here, we conducted a systemic investigation of SECIS binding protein 2 (SBP2) and putative selenoprotein P (SELENOP) by transcript silencing in adult female Gulf-coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum). Knockdown of the SBP2 and SELENOP genes depleted the respective transcript levels of these tick selenogenes, and …


Estimating Parasite Host Range, Tad Dallas, Shan Huang, Charles Nunn, Andrew W. Park, John M. Drake Aug 2017

Estimating Parasite Host Range, Tad Dallas, Shan Huang, Charles Nunn, Andrew W. Park, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2017 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Estimating the number of host species that a parasite can infect (i.e. host range) provides key insights into the evolution of host specialism and is a central concept in disease ecology. Host range is rarely estimated in real systems, however, because variation in species relative abundance and the detection of rare species makes it challenging to confidently estimate host range. We applied a non-parametric richness indicator to estimate host range in simulated and empirical data, allowing us to assess the influence of sampling heterogeneity and data completeness. After …


Listeria Occurrence In Poultry Flocks: Detection And Potential Implications, Michael J. Rothrock Jr., Morgan L. Davis, Aude Locatelli, Aaron Bodie, Tori G. Mcintosh, Janet R. Donaldson, Steven C. Ricke Aug 2017

Listeria Occurrence In Poultry Flocks: Detection And Potential Implications, Michael J. Rothrock Jr., Morgan L. Davis, Aude Locatelli, Aaron Bodie, Tori G. Mcintosh, Janet R. Donaldson, Steven C. Ricke

Faculty Publications

Foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Listeria are a major concern within the food industry due to their pathogenic potential to cause infection. Of these, Listeria monocytogenes, possesses a high mortality rate (approximately 20%) and is considered one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogens. Although the usual reservoirs for Listeria transmission have been extensively studied, little is known about the relationship between Listeria and live poultry production. Sporadic and isolated cases of listeriosis have been attributed to poultry production and Listeria spp. have been isolated from all stages of poultry production and processing. Farm studies …


Moving Forward In Circles: Challenges And Opportunities In Modelling Population Cycles, Frédéric Barraquand, Stilianos Louca, Karen C. Abbott, Christina A. Cobbold, Flora Cordoleani, Donald L. Deangelis, Bret D. Elderd, Jeremy W. Fox, Priscilla Greenwood, Frank M. Hilker, Dennis L. Murray, Christopher R. Stieha, Rachel A. Taylor, Kelsey Vitense, Gail S.K. Wolkowicz, Rebecca C. Tyson Aug 2017

Moving Forward In Circles: Challenges And Opportunities In Modelling Population Cycles, Frédéric Barraquand, Stilianos Louca, Karen C. Abbott, Christina A. Cobbold, Flora Cordoleani, Donald L. Deangelis, Bret D. Elderd, Jeremy W. Fox, Priscilla Greenwood, Frank M. Hilker, Dennis L. Murray, Christopher R. Stieha, Rachel A. Taylor, Kelsey Vitense, Gail S.K. Wolkowicz, Rebecca C. Tyson

Faculty Publications

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS Population cycling is a widespread phenomenon, observed across a multitude of taxa in both laboratory and natural conditions. Historically, the theory associated with population cycles was tightly linked to pairwise consumer–resource interactions and studied via deterministic models, but current empirical and theoretical research reveals a much richer basis for ecological cycles. Stochasticity and seasonality can modulate or create cyclic behaviour in non-intuitive ways, the high-dimensionality in ecological systems can profoundly influence cycling, and so can demographic structure and eco-evolutionary dynamics. An inclusive theory for population cycles, ranging from ecosystem-level to demographic modelling, grounded …


Oviposition Preference And Offspring Performance In Container Breeding Mosquitoes: Evaluating The Effects Of Organic Compounds And Laboratory Colonisation, David W. Allgood, Donald A. Yee Aug 2017

Oviposition Preference And Offspring Performance In Container Breeding Mosquitoes: Evaluating The Effects Of Organic Compounds And Laboratory Colonisation, David W. Allgood, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

1. The preference–performance hypothesis (PPH) predicts that organisms lacking parental care should oviposit in habitats that optimise offspring performance. Preference–performance relationships were investigated for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus Skuse) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus Say) (Diptera: Culicidae), two medically important container-breeding species, in response to an organic chemical blend mimicking decaying plant matter. Additionally, the effects of long-term laboratory colonisation of Cx. quinquefasciatus using wild and laboratory strains were evaluated.

2. Oviposition bioassays were conducted by releasing gravid mosquitoes into field enclosures with automobile tires containing low and high concentrations of the chemical blend, …


Catalase Is A Determinant Of The Colonization And Transovarial Transmission Of Rickettsia Parkeri In The Gulf Coast Tick Amblyomma Maculatum, Khemraj Budachetri, Deepak Kumar, Shahid Karim Aug 2017

Catalase Is A Determinant Of The Colonization And Transovarial Transmission Of Rickettsia Parkeri In The Gulf Coast Tick Amblyomma Maculatum, Khemraj Budachetri, Deepak Kumar, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

The Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) has evolved as a competent vector of the spotted‐fever group rickettsia, Rickettsia parkeri. In this study, the functional role of catalase, an enzyme responsible for the degradation of toxic hydrogen peroxide, in the colonization of the tick vector by R. parkeri and transovarial transmission of this pathogen to the next tick generation, was investigated. Catalase gene (CAT) expression in midgut, salivary glands and ovarian tissues exhibited a 2–11‐fold increase in transcription level upon R. parkeri infection. Depletion of CAT transcripts using an RNA‐interference approach significantly reduced R. parkeri infection …


Osteopontin Facilitates West Nile Nirus Neuroinvasion Via Neutrophil "Trojan Horse" Transport, Amber M. Paul, Dhiraj Acharya, Laurel Duty, E. Ashley Thompson, Linda Le, Dobrivoje S. Stokic, A. Arturo Leis, Fengwei Bai Jul 2017

Osteopontin Facilitates West Nile Nirus Neuroinvasion Via Neutrophil "Trojan Horse" Transport, Amber M. Paul, Dhiraj Acharya, Laurel Duty, E. Ashley Thompson, Linda Le, Dobrivoje S. Stokic, A. Arturo Leis, Fengwei Bai

Faculty Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) can cause severe human neurological diseases including encephalitis and meningitis. The mechanisms by which WNV enters the central nervous system (CNS) and host-factors that are involved in WNV neuroinvasion are not completely understood. The proinflammatory chemokine osteopontin (OPN) is induced in multiple neuroinflammatory diseases and is responsible for leukocyte recruitment to sites of its expression. In this study, we found that WNV infection induced OPN expression in both human and mouse cells. Interestingly, WNV-infected OPN deficient (Opn −/−) mice exhibited a higher survival rate (70%) than wild type (WT) control mice (30%), suggesting OPN plays a …


Effect Of Rickettsia Felis Strain Variation On Infection, Transmission, And Fitness In The Cat Flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), Sean P. Healy, Lisa D. Brown, Melena R. Hagstrom, Lane D. Foil, Kevin R. Macaluso Jul 2017

Effect Of Rickettsia Felis Strain Variation On Infection, Transmission, And Fitness In The Cat Flea (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), Sean P. Healy, Lisa D. Brown, Melena R. Hagstrom, Lane D. Foil, Kevin R. Macaluso

Faculty Publications

© The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. Rickettsia felis is a human pathogen transmitted by the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) (str. LSU), as well as an obligate symbiont of the parthenogenic booklouse Liposcelis bostrychophila (Badonnel) (str. LSU-Lb). The influence of genetic variability in these two strains of R. felis on host specialization and fitness and possible resulting differences on infection and transmission kinetics in C. felis is unknown. Utilizing an artificial host system, cat fleas were exposed to a R. felis str. LSU-Lb-infected bloodmeal and monitored for infection at 7-d …


Zika And The Regulatory Regime For Licensing Vaccines For Use During Pregnancy, Sam F. Halabi Jul 2017

Zika And The Regulatory Regime For Licensing Vaccines For Use During Pregnancy, Sam F. Halabi

Faculty Publications

Microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects (congenital Zika syndrome) caused by the Zika virus have prompted an urgent effort to develop and license a safe and efficacious vaccine. Yet, that effort has run up against one of the most formidable barriers in vaccine research: pregnant women are almost always excluded from clinical trials for fear that the intervention may harm the fetus. This article analyzes the existing regulatory framework for vaccines intended for use during pregnancy in an effort to identify ways the process may be reconsidered in light of recent public health emergencies that had a disproportionate effect …


Il-4rα On Dendritic Cells In Neonates And Th2 Immunopathology In Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, Bishwas Shrestha, Dahui You, Jordy Saravia, David T. Siefker, Sridhar Jaligama, Greg I. Lee, Asmaa A. Sallam, Jeffrey N. Harding, Stephania A. Cormier Jul 2017

Il-4rα On Dendritic Cells In Neonates And Th2 Immunopathology In Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, Bishwas Shrestha, Dahui You, Jordy Saravia, David T. Siefker, Sridhar Jaligama, Greg I. Lee, Asmaa A. Sallam, Jeffrey N. Harding, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

© Society for Leukocyte Biology. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the leading causes of bronchiolitis in children, and severe RSV infection early in life has been associated with asthma development. Using a neonatal mouse model, we have shown that down-regulation of IL-4 receptor α (IL-4Rα) with antisense oligonucleotides in the lung during neonatal infection protected from RSV immunopathophysiology. Significant down-regulation of IL-4Rα was observed on pulmonary CD11b+ myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) suggesting a role for IL-4Rα on mDCs in the immunopathogenesis of neonatal RSV infection. Here, we demonstrated that neonatal CD11b+ mDCs expressed higher levels of IL-4Rα than …


Neutral Genetic Processes Influence Mhc Evolution In Threatened Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus), Jean P. Elbers, Rachel W. Clostio, Sabrina S. Taylor Jul 2017

Neutral Genetic Processes Influence Mhc Evolution In Threatened Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus), Jean P. Elbers, Rachel W. Clostio, Sabrina S. Taylor

Faculty Publications

Levels of adaptive genetic variation influence how species deal with environmental and ecological change, but these levels are frequently inferred using neutral genetic markers. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes play a key role in the adaptive branch of the immune system and have been used extensively to estimate levels of adaptive genetic variation. Parts of the peptide binding region, sites where MHC molecules directly interact with pathogen and self-proteins, were sequenced from a MHC class I (95/441 tortoises) and class II (245/441 tortoises) gene in threatened and nonthreatened populations of gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), and adaptive genetic variation at MHC …


Capacity Of Blood Plasma Is Higher In Birds Breeding In Radioactively Contaminated Areas, Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez, Anders P. Møller, Timothy Mousseau, Juan J. Soler Jun 2017

Capacity Of Blood Plasma Is Higher In Birds Breeding In Radioactively Contaminated Areas, Magdalena Ruiz-Rodríguez, Anders P. Møller, Timothy Mousseau, Juan J. Soler

Faculty Publications

Background Environmental pollution in general, and radioactive contamination in particular, may deeply affect host-parasite relationships and their consequences for the evolution of organisms. The nuclear accident that occurred more than 30 years ago in Chernobyl resulted in significant changes in diversity and richness of microbial communities that could influence characteristics of animal-bacteria interactions, including host immune responses and competitive interference by bacteria. Given the high mortality rate of birds breeding in radioactively contaminated zones, those with stronger defences against infections should experience significant fitness advantages.

Methodology/Principal Findings Here we characterized antimicrobial capacity of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from different Ukrainian …


A Study Of Ticks And Tick-Borne Livestock Pathogens In Pakistan, Shahid Karim, Khemraj Budachetri, Nabanita Mukherjee, Jaclyn Williams, Asma Kausar, Muhammad Jawadul Hassan, Steven W. Adamson, Scot E. Dowd, Dmitry Apanskevich, Abdullah Arijo, Zia Uddin Sindhu, Muhammad Azam Kakar, Raja Muhammad Dilpazir Khan, Shafiq Ullah, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Abid Ali, Zafar Iqbal Jun 2017

A Study Of Ticks And Tick-Borne Livestock Pathogens In Pakistan, Shahid Karim, Khemraj Budachetri, Nabanita Mukherjee, Jaclyn Williams, Asma Kausar, Muhammad Jawadul Hassan, Steven W. Adamson, Scot E. Dowd, Dmitry Apanskevich, Abdullah Arijo, Zia Uddin Sindhu, Muhammad Azam Kakar, Raja Muhammad Dilpazir Khan, Shafiq Ullah, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Abid Ali, Zafar Iqbal

Faculty Publications

Background

As obligate blood-feeding arthropods, ticks transmit pathogens to humans and domestic animals more often than other arthropod vectors. Livestock farming plays a vital role in the rural economy of Pakistan, and tick infestation causes serious problems with it. However, research on tick species diversity and tick-borne pathogens has rarely been conducted in Pakistan. In this study, a systematic investigation of the tick species infesting livestock in different ecological regions of Pakistan was conducted to determine the microbiome and pathobiome diversity in the indigenous ticks.

Methodology/Principal findings A total of 3,866 tick specimens were morphologically identified as 19 different tick …


Association Of Alzhemier's Disease With Hepatitis C Among Patients With Bipolar Disorder, Herng-Ching Lin, Sudha Xirasagar, Hsin-Chien Lee, Chung-Chien Huang, Chao-Hung Chen Jun 2017

Association Of Alzhemier's Disease With Hepatitis C Among Patients With Bipolar Disorder, Herng-Ching Lin, Sudha Xirasagar, Hsin-Chien Lee, Chung-Chien Huang, Chao-Hung Chen

Faculty Publications

Associations of hepatitis C virus infection with Alzheimer’s disease have not been studied among higher risk, bipolar disorder patients. This population-based case-control study investigated the risks of hepatitis C virus infection among Alzheimer’s disease patients with bipolar disorder in the years preceding their Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. We used 2000–2013 data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in Taiwan. Among patients with bipolar disorder, 73 were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (cases), who were compared with 365 individuals with bipolar disorder but without Alzheimer’s disease (randomly selected controls matched on sex, age, and index year with cases). Prior claims (before the diagnosis …


Toxoplasma Gondii Moderates The Association Between Multiple Folate-Cycle Factors And Cognitive Function In U.S. Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson W. Hedges Jun 2017

Toxoplasma Gondii Moderates The Association Between Multiple Folate-Cycle Factors And Cognitive Function In U.S. Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a microscopic, apicomplexan parasite that can infect muscle or neural tissue, including the brain, in humans. While T. gondii infection has been associated with changes in mood, behavior, and cognition, the mechanism remains unclear. Recent evidence suggests that T. gondii may harvest folate from host neural cells. Reduced folate availability is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cognitive decline. We hypothesized that impairment in cognitive functioning in subjects seropositive for T. gondii might be associated with a reduction of folate availability in neural cells. We analyzed data from the third …


Intramuscular Immunization Of Mice With The Live-Attenuated Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Vaccine Strain Vc2 Expressing Equine Herpesvirus 1 (Ehv-1) Glycoprotein D Generates Anti-Ehv-1 Immune Responses In Mice, Shiliang A. Liu, Brent A. Stanfield, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Shan Naidu, Ingeborg Langohr, Fabio Del Piero, Jacqueline Ferracone, Alma A. Roy, Konstantin G. Kousoulas Jun 2017

Intramuscular Immunization Of Mice With The Live-Attenuated Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Vaccine Strain Vc2 Expressing Equine Herpesvirus 1 (Ehv-1) Glycoprotein D Generates Anti-Ehv-1 Immune Responses In Mice, Shiliang A. Liu, Brent A. Stanfield, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Shan Naidu, Ingeborg Langohr, Fabio Del Piero, Jacqueline Ferracone, Alma A. Roy, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2017 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Vaccination remains the best option to combat equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) infection, and several different strategies of vaccination have been investigated and developed over the past few decades. Herein, we report that the liveattenuated herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) VC2 vaccine strain, which has been shown to be unable to enter into neurons and establish latency in mice, can be utilized as a vector for the heterologous expression of EHV-1 glycoprotein D (gD) and that the intramuscular immunization of mice results in strong antiviral humoral and cellular immune responses. The VC2-EHV-1-gD …