Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Department of Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Feb 18;117(7):3711-3717. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1909369117. Epub 2020 Feb 3.
Mosquito-borne helminth infections are responsible for a significant worldwide disease burden in both humans and animals. Accordingly, development of novel strategies to reduce disease transmission by targeting these pathogens in the vector are of paramount importance. We found that a strain of that is refractory to infection by , the agent of canine heartworm disease, mounts a stronger immune response during infection than does a susceptible strain. Moreover, activation of the Toll immune signaling pathway in the susceptible strain arrests larval development of the parasite, thereby decreasing the number of transmission-stage larvae. Notably, this strategy also blocks transmission-stage , an agent of human lymphatic filariasis. Our data show that mosquito immunity can play a pivotal role in restricting filarial nematode development and suggest that genetically engineering mosquitoes with enhanced immunity will help reduce pathogen transmission.
蚊媒蠕虫感染在人类和动物中造成了相当大的全球疾病负担。因此，开发针对媒介中这些病原体的新策略来减少疾病传播至关重要。我们发现，一种对犬心丝虫病病原体 具有抗性的 菌株在感染期间会产生比易感菌株更强的免疫反应。此外，易感菌株中 Toll 免疫信号通路的激活会阻止寄生虫幼虫的发育，从而减少传播阶段幼虫的数量。值得注意的是，这种策略还能阻止传播阶段的 ，一种人类淋巴丝虫病的病原体。我们的数据表明，蚊子的免疫力可以在限制丝虫线虫的发育中发挥关键作用，并表明用增强免疫力的基因工程蚊子将有助于减少病原体的传播。
