Article
Immunology
Yu-Min Chuang, Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh, Selma Abouneameh, Hamidah Raduwan, Michel Ledizet, Drew Weissman, Erol Fikrig
Summary: Malaria is transmitted when infected mosquitos inject Plasmodium sporozoites through the skin of a vertebrate host. Vaccination is the most effective strategy to prevent malaria, but new strategies are needed to improve current pathogen-based vaccines. Immunization against a mosquito saliva protein, AgTRIO, provides protection against Plasmodium infection in mice. In this study, AgTRIO mRNA-lipid nanoparticles were used to generate a robust immune response in mice, resulting in reduced liver infection levels and increased survival when exposed to infected mosquitos. This approach offers advantages over pathogen-based vaccines as the immune response can be boosted with additional mosquito bites.
Article
Microbiology
Anastasia Accoti, Claudia Damiani, Emilia Nunzi, Alessia Cappelli, Gloria Iacomelli, Giulia Monacchia, Antonella Turco, Francesco D'Alo, Matthew J. Peirce, Guido Favia, Roberta Spaccapelo
Summary: The composition of the saliva microbiome of An. gambiae and An. stephensi mosquitoes, which are important vectors for malaria-causing parasites, was characterized using sequencing and MALDI-TOF. The presence of bacteria in mosquito saliva was documented, and it was found that Plasmodium infection affects the mosquito microbiota. This raises the possibility of mosquitoes as vectors of bacterial infection and the potential use of commensal mosquito bacteria for transmission-blocking strategies.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Yu-Min Chuang, Tolulope A. Agunbiade, Xu-Dong Tang, Marianna Freudzon, Lionel Almeras, Erol Fikrig
Summary: When Plasmodium-infected Anopheles mosquitoes inject saliva and sporozoites into a vertebrate host, the SAMSP1 protein in mosquito saliva enhances sporozoite activity, reduces neutrophil chemotaxis, and influences the host environment. Immunization with SAMSP1 can reduce the initial Plasmodium burden in mice, showing its potential protective effect.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cameron Bishop, Mazhar Hussain, Leon E. Hugo, Sassan Asgari
Summary: The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia can affect the longevity of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes by regulating their miRNA, providing a potential biocontrol strategy for viruses transmitted by these mosquitoes.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Livo F. Esemu, Honore Awanakam, Dieudonne Nanfa, Michael Besong, Idriss Tsayem, Celine Nguefeu Nkenfou, Jude Bigoga, Rose Leke, Sobngwi Eugene, Lishomwa C. Ndhlovu, Gabriel Ekali Loni
Summary: HIV-1 infection during pregnancy reduces the transfer of protective maternal antibodies, and the role of microRNAs in this process is not well understood. This study found that miR-3181 levels did not differ significantly in the placenta and plasma between HIV-infected and uninfected women, while miR-199a levels were significantly higher in the plasma of both groups. This suggests potential systemic dangers despite viral suppression.
Review
Entomology
Zhao-Yang Wang, Kai-Xiao Nie, Ji-Chen Niu, Gong Cheng
Summary: Mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs) pose a significant threat to global public health, including dengue virus, Zika virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, and chikungunya virus. Mosquito saliva contains proteins that not only facilitate blood feeding but also play important roles in regulating local and systemic infection, as well as modulating the host immune responses. This review discusses the physiological functions of mosquito salivary proteins (MSPs), their impact on MBV transmission, and the current progress and challenges in developing MSP-based MBV transmission blocking vaccines.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Imke Visser, Constantianus J. M. Koenraadt, Marion P. G. Koopmans, Barry Rockx
Summary: Due to climate changes, new potential public health threats emerge as mosquito species expand their geographical distributions and carry arbovirus infections to new areas. Mosquito saliva plays a crucial role in enhancing arbovirus pathogenesis in the skin, but the specific immunomodulatory effects and mechanisms of various mosquito species' saliva need further exploration. Understanding the impact of mosquito saliva on the vector-virus-host relationship helps predict the transmission risk and severity of emerging vector-borne diseases.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shilpa Ravindran, Anismrita Lahon
Summary: Zika virus (ZIKV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are medically significant vector-borne viruses that cause considerable disease burden in humans. Their similar routes of entry and immune cell responses have been studied, but the overall response of immune cells is not fully understood.
Article
Parasitology
Cecilia S. S. Engdahl, Chinmay V. V. Tikhe, George Dimopoulos
Summary: Vector control plays a key role in reducing the burden of mosquito-borne diseases. Synthetic insecticides used in current strategies can have negative environmental impact and become ineffective due to mosquito resistance. This study presents the discovery and evaluation of natural product-based biological control agents as potential biopesticides for mosquito control. Several natural products were identified as capable of killing mosquito larvae, including those responsible for transmitting diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. The study also explores the usefulness of crude extracts from two bacterial sources for mosquitocidal activity.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Julien Tran, Christopher K. K. Fairley, Jason J. J. Ong, Catriona S. S. Bradshaw, Ei T. T. Aung, Kate Maddaford, Marcus Y. Y. Chen, Jane S. S. Hocking, Eric P. F. Chow
Summary: This study examines the duration and body position of heterosexual men and women during tongue-kissing and finds that men spend longer duration and more often take the top position during kissing. The findings highlight the potential influence of body positioning and kissing duration on the risk of gonorrhea transmission.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Yanyan Jiang, Jing Chen, Yunchuang Sun, Fan Li, Luhua Wei, Wei Sun, Jianwen Deng, Yun Yuan, Zhaoxia Wang
Summary: The combination of salivary miR-29a-3p and miR-29c-3p shows potential as a diagnostic biomarker for idiopathic PD. The expression level of miR-29a-3p in PD patients was significantly lower than ET patients, but higher than MSA patients.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Wei Wu, Ge Yi, Xinwei Lv, Qianzhuo Mao, Taiyun Wei
Summary: A calcium-binding protein (CBP) found in insect saliva allows for the transmission of the devastating rice gall dwarf virus into plant phloem. This interaction with CBP is compounded by stronger feeding barriers, more frequent probing behavior, and increased saliva secretion into plants by insect vectors, all increasing the likelihood of viral transmission.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
Sandra Derouiche, Tianbang Li, Yuya Sakai, Daisuke Uta, Seiji Aoyagi, Makoto Tominaga
Summary: Mosquitoes can easily spread deadly diseases through their painless skin piercing, and the inhibition of pain by their saliva may be attributed to antinociceptive substances. The study found that mosquito head homogenates and mouse saliva inhibit TRPV1 and TRPA1 channels, which play a role in detecting pain stimuli. Sialorphin, a peptide found in mosquito head homogenates and mouse saliva, showed similar inhibition effects on these channels. The findings suggest the universal antinociceptive effects of mosquito saliva and may contribute to the development of safe and novel antinociceptive agents.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Priyanshu Srivastava, Sakshi Chaudhary, Surbhi Malhotra, Binuja Varma, Sujatha Sunil
Summary: Macrophages serve as efficient reservoirs for viruses, allowing the viruses to persist for extended periods of time during infection. Alphaviruses, including CHIKV, can remain in macrophages even after the acute phase of fever. The viral particles replicate at low levels and localize in less accessible tissues. A comprehensive experimental study was conducted to characterize CHIKV-induced modulation of host genes in macrophages. Transcriptomes of a human macrophage cell line infected with CHIKV at early and late timepoints were analyzed, revealing perturbed pathways, especially immune-related ones, and differential expression of host factors in infected macrophages over time. These pathways may play crucial roles in the persistence of CHIKV in macrophages.
Article
Emergency Medicine
Aleem Azal Ali, Belinda Bajric, Carmen L. Isache, Ravindra P. Maharaj
Summary: Chikungunya is an arboviral infection characterized by acute viral illness and inflammatory arthritis. First described in Tanzania in 1952, outbreaks had been limited to Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans until 2013. The disease spread to the Caribbean in late 2013 and subsequently to Central and South America. In the United States, there have been travel-associated cases of Chikungunya reported, with the first case acquired in Florida without international travel history.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Orthopedics
Raman Mundi, Harman Chaudhry, Seper Ekhtiari, Prabjit Ajrawat, Daniel M. Tushinski, Thomas J. Wood, Mohit Bhandari
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of hydrofiber dressings on reducing complications in total joint arthroplasty surgeries. The results showed that hydrofiber dressings had no observable effect on prosthetic joint infection and wound irritation, but they did reduce the rate of blisters and the number of dressing changes. However, the evidence for the reduction in blisters and dressing changes is limited due to biased trial methodologies and wide confidence intervals.
Article
Ophthalmology
Thomas Charles Wood, Sundas Maqsood, Alex Saunders, William Sancha, Mayank A. Nanavaty, Michael Wearne, Saul Rajak
Summary: The objective of this study was to develop and implement a simulation-based training model for the management of posterior capsule rupture (PCR) from a non-technical skills (NTS) perspective. The results showed significant improvement in participants' NTS and non-significant improvement in their technical skills (TS).
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Luke P. Allsopp, Alice C. Z. Collins, Eleanor Hawkins, Thomas E. Wood, Alain Filloux
Summary: Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizes three type six secretion systems to manipulate its environment, subvert host cells, and engage in microbial competition; RpoN and Sfa2 coordinate the T6SS of P. aeruginosa by activating H2-T6SS while repressing H1-T6SS and H3-T6SS; these regulatory mechanisms may enable P. aeruginosa to adapt to a range of environmental conditions.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Silas Bossert, Thomas J. Wood, Sebastien Patiny, Denis Michez, Eduardo A. B. Almeida, Robert L. Minckley, Laurence Packer, John L. Neff, Robert S. Copeland, Jakub Straka, Alain Pauly, Terry Griswold, Sean G. Brady, Bryan N. Danforth, Elizabeth A. Murray
Summary: The mining bees (Andrenidae) are a major bee family with over 3000 species globally. Despite limited knowledge of their evolutionary history, a comprehensive genomic dataset of 195 species has revealed that their diversification rates sharply increased in the past 15 million years, especially in the genera Andrena and Perdita. This suggests that these two groups, along with the brood parasites of the genus Nomada Scopoli, are among the fastest diversifying lineages of all bees.
SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Thomas R. Wood, Kate Hildahl, Hawley Helmbrecht, Kylie A. Corry, Daniel H. Moralejo, Sarah E. Kolnik, Katherine E. Prater, Sandra E. Juul, Elizabeth Nance
Summary: Organotypic brain slice models are used to investigate therapeutic options for hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, a major factor in neonatal mortality. The study found highly heterogeneous regional responses to different treatments and different morphologies of microglia responded differently to injury and treatment.
BIOENGINEERING & TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Sandra E. Juul, Thomas R. Wood, Bryan A. Comstock, Krystle Perez, Semsa Gogcu, Mihai Puia-Dumitrescu, Sara Berkelhamer, Patrick J. Heagerty
Summary: Understanding the causes and circumstances of death in extremely preterm infants is crucial for healthcare practitioners. This study retrospectively examined a cohort of infants born between 24 and 27 weeks of gestation to determine the risk factors, causes, timing, and circumstances of death. The study found that respiratory distress or failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, catastrophic intracranial hemorrhage, sepsis, and sudden unexplained death were the primary causes of death. The risk of death decreased over time, and preterm labor was associated with a decreased hazard of death. Clinical factors such as low birth weight, low Apgar score, sick appearance at birth, necrotizing enterocolitis, pulmonary hemorrhage, severe intracranial hemorrhage, and severe sepsis were also associated with death.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
N. Leclercq, L. Marshall, T. Weekers, A. Anselmo, D. Benda, D. Bevk, P. Bogusch, D. Cejas, B. Drepper, M. Galloni, M. Gerard, G. Ghisbain, L. Hutchinson, B. Martinet, D. Michez, J-M Molenberg, P. Nikolic, S. Roberts, G. Smagghe, J. Straka, P. Vandamme, T. J. Wood, N. J. Vereecken
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Timothy Weekers, Leon Marshall, Nicolas Leclercq, Thomas J. Wood, Diego Cejas, Bianca Drepper, Michael Garratt, Louise Hutchinson, Stuart Roberts, Jordi Bosch, Laura Roquer-Beni, Patrick Lhomme, Denis Michez, Jean-Marc Molenberg, Guy Smagghe, Peter Vandamme, Nicolas J. Vereecken
Summary: This study investigates the impact of variables such as climate, landscape composition, management practices, and wild bee pollination on commercial apple production. The results show that apple yields are mainly influenced by management practices, not the contribution of managed honey bees. Wild bee diversity is negatively correlated with honey bee dominance but promotes apple quality. Thus, harnessing wild bee diversity can be a nature-based solution and a substitute for an exclusive reliance on honey bees in apple production.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Ophthalmology
Thomas Charles Wood, Sundas Maqsood, William Sancha, Alex Saunders, David Lockington, Mayank A. Nanavaty, Saul Rajak
Article
Entomology
Thomas J. Wood, Sebastien Patiny, Silas Bossert
Summary: Establishing a higher classification of bees based on morphology alone can fail to capture evolutionary relationships. In the subfamily Panurginae, two Old World species previously placed in separate genera were found to be most closely related to each other. To address this, a new genus was established and the classification of the tribe was reassessed. The study highlights the challenges of establishing a phylogenetically sound classification and the existence of unrecognized genera, even in well-studied regions.
JOURNAL OF HYMENOPTERA RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Gregory C. Valentine, Krystle M. Perez, Thomas R. Wood, Dennis E. Mayock, Bryan A. Comstock, Mihai Puia-Dumitrescu, Patrick J. Heagerty, Sandra E. Juul
Summary: This study evaluated the association between maximal weight loss (MWL) and total fluid administration (TFA) in the first week after birth and outcomes in extremely preterm (EP) newborns. The results showed that MWL between 5% to 15% was associated with a decreased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, while average TFA > 150 mUkg birthweight/day was associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis and patent ductus arteriosus requiring surgery.
JOURNAL OF PERINATOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Virology
Charles E. Hart, Frank A. Middleton, Saravanan Thangamani
Summary: The study reveals that Ixodes scapularis ticks can harbor both Powassan virus and Borrelia burgdorferi, benefiting the replication and dissemination of Powassan virus.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Sooyeon Song, Thomas K. Wood
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
R. N. Nichols, T. J. Wood, J. M. Holland, D. Goulson
Summary: The floral abundance and richness on farmland have been decreasing since the mid 1900s. Agri-environment schemes (AES) can help improve floral resources for insect pollinators through establishing flower-rich areas or carefully managing areas set-aside for natural regeneration. A study conducted in southern England showed that initially the sown Pollen & Nectar Strips and Florally Enhanced (FE) Grass Margins provided the greatest floral abundance, but this declined over time. Furthermore, only a few sown species known to be beneficial for insect pollinators persisted in the long term.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Aerospace
J. M. Dailey, T. Koch, J. Delatore, J. Kolchmeyer, S. Husaini, M. Dinu, J. Le Grange, B. Yagudayev, A. Stenard, L. Crandall, G. Szczepanik, N. Wendt, A. Monte, T. H. Wood, B. Schulein, D. J. Geisler
Summary: This article reports on the design, development, and testing of a high-power broadband optical modem for NASA's crewed Artemis-2 mission. The modem, known as O2O, provides a bi-directional optical link back to earth while en route to the moon. It features a full-duplex design with a high-power optical transmitter and receiver optimized for serially-concatenated pulse-position modulation (SCPPM). The modem has passed rigorous environmental testing and has been declared at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6.
FREE-SPACE LASER COMMUNICATIONS XXXIV
(2022)
