Ecological immunology of a flea vector (Ctenocephalides felis)

跳蚤载体（Ctenocephalides felis）的生态免疫学

• 批准号: 10711751
• 负责人: Lisa Diane Brown
• 金额: $ 17.75万
• 依托单位: GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2027-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10711751
• 关键词: Address; Adult; Affect; Age; Antibacterial Response; Bacterial Infections; Biological Products; Bubonic Plague; California; Cat-Scratch Disease; Chemical Agents; Communities; Data; Defense Mechanisms; Development; Diet; Disease; Disease Vectors; Domestic Animals; Drug usage; Ecology; Effectiveness; Endemic Flea-Borne Typhus; Environmental Impact; Exposure to; Felis catus; Fleas; Food; Genes; Genetic; Genus Felis; Goals; Habitats; Human; Immune; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Immunologics; Immunology; Individual; Infection; Innate Immune System; Insect Vectors; Insecta; Insecticides; Intrinsic factor; Invaded; Knowledge; Larva; Lead; Light; Measures; Methods; Modification; Molecular; Organism; Outcome; Pharmacotherapy; Physiological; Play; Population; Predisposition; Prevalence; Public Health; Recording of previous events; Research; Resources; Rodent; Role; Site; Stress; Testing; Texas; Transcriptional Regulation; United States; Vector-transmitted infectious disease; bacterial vector; base; companion animal; compare effectiveness; density; disease transmission; disorder control; environmental stressor; experience; fighting; flea-borne; gut microbiota; immune system function; immunoregulation; infection risk; insight; microbial; non-genetic; novel; novel strategies; pathogen; pathogenic bacteria; prevent; programs; sex; spotted fever; trait; transmission process; vector; vector control; vector-borne pathogen

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Fleas are obligate vectors of bacterial pathogens that cause severe diseases in humans, including murine typhus and bubonic plague. To resist or limit infection, fleas possess an innate immune system that provides defense against microbial invasion and colonization. However, in their natural habitats, flea populations are made up of individuals that differ not only their genetic background, but also in regard to factors such as sex, age, diet, infection history, gut microbiota, and exposure to environmental stressors. These non-genetic factors have been shown to have important consequences on the outcome of infection in other disease vectors; yet, no studies to date have addressed the impact of these ecological parameters on flea immune responses. The proposed research aims to fill these knowledge gaps in flea ecological immunology, with the primary goals being to determine the intrinsic factors that affect the antibacterial response in adults, and to determine the effect of larval ecology on subsequent infections as adults. Specifically, we propose to compare the strength of immune defense mechanisms in adult cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) based on sex, age, and infection history (Specific Aim 1), as well as following larval exposure to food quantity, larval density, and insecticides (Specific Aim 2). This project will provide valuable insight into the variability of flea immunity under natural conditions, which can directly affect pathogen transmission dynamics and alter disease prevalence outcomes within a vector population. Data arising from this project could aid in the development of novel strategies to control the spread of flea-borne pathogens to humans.

项目概要/摘要 跳蚤是导致人类严重疾病（包括鼠型斑疹伤寒）的细菌病原体的绝对载体 和黑死病。为了抵抗或限制感染，跳蚤拥有提供防御的先天免疫系统 对抗微生物的入侵和定殖。然而，在自然栖息地，跳蚤种群由以下组成： 个体不仅有遗传背景的差异，而且在性别、年龄、饮食、 感染史、肠道微生物群和环境压力源暴露。这些非遗传因素 已证明对其他疾病媒介的感染结果具有重要影响；然而，还没有研究 迄今为止已经解决了这些生态参数对跳蚤免疫反应的影响。拟议的 研究旨在填补跳蚤生态免疫学方面的知识空白，主要目标是 确定影响成虫抗菌反应的内在因素，并确定幼虫的影响 成年后感染的生态学。具体来说，我们建议比较免疫防御的强度 基于性别、年龄和感染史的成年猫蚤（Ctenocephalides felis）的机制（具体目标 1）， 以及幼虫接触食物数量、幼虫密度和杀虫剂后的情况（具体目标 2）。这个项目 将为了解自然条件下跳蚤免疫力的变异性提供有价值的见解，这可以直接影响 病原体传播动态并改变媒介群体内的疾病流行结果。数据产生 该项目的成果可以帮助制定新的策略来控制跳蚤传播的病原体的传播 对人类。