A collection of researchers, students, and future leaders in tick immunobiology The first annual Symposium for the Tick Immunity project is scheduled for Thursday, October 17, 2019. The team will be hosting local, national, and international scientists, researchers, students, and special guests and stakeholders working or interested in the field of tick-borne illness and immunology. ​ The Symposium will feature: ​ A welcome address from leadership of the University of Mary

Joao H. F. Pedra of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and his team published a new review paper that briefly discusses exosome and microvesicle biogenesis, their cargo, and the role that nanovesicles play during pathogen spread, host colonization, and disease pathogenesis. The review then focuses on the role of extracellular vesicles in dictating microbial pathogenesis and host immunity during transmission of vector-borne pathogens. Vector-borne diseases cause ov

Erol Fikrig and team at the Yale University School of Medicine published a new paper examining the role of Mannose Binding Lectin (MBL) in the immune response of Borrelia. The causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato group, have developed several ways to protect themselves against killing by the host complement system. In addition, it has been shown that serum sensitive isolates are (partially) protected by the Ixode

Ulrike Munderloh and team at the University of Minnesota published a new paper on mutational analysis of gene function. Mutational analysis is an efficient approach to identifying microbial gene function. Until recently, lack of an effective tool for Anaplasmataceae yielding reproducible results has created an obstacle to functional genomics, because surrogate systems, e.g., ectopic gene expression and analysis in E. coli, may not provide accurate answers. The researchers cho

Utpal Pal and team at the University of Maryland, College Park published a review on the interactions between Borrelia burgdorferi proteins, as well as between microbial proteins and host components, and protein and non‐protein components, highlighting their roles in pathogen persistence in the mammalian host. Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease that persists in a complex enzootic life cycle, involving Ixodes ticks and vertebrate hosts. The microbe inv

Researchers identify the molecule p47 as a binding partner that induces a signaling cascade to limit microbial infection Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a molecule in the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway that acts as a binding partner and helps send the signal to counteract pathogens in the black-legged tick or Ixodes scapularis. This tick is the vector for Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, pathogens which cause Ly

Utpal Pal and his team at the University of Maryland, College Park, published a new paper characterizing the roles of Ixodes scapularis organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) in tick-rickettsial pathogen interactions. The paper characterizes the role of these conserved molecules in ticks infected with either Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi or tick-borne Langat virus (LGTV), a pathogen closely related to tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Quantitative rea

How evolution has shaped vector immunity, calling for immunologists and evolutionary ecologists to work together to tackle some of these emerging diseases Tick Immunity researchers published a comprehensive piece discussing the evolutionary forces that have shaped vector immunity in arthropods like ticks. Researchers stress the integrated and interconnected nature of the principles of evolutionary ecology and molecular signaling to ensure a more holistic approach to arthropod

Receives $7.7 million grant for first-of-its-kind Tick Immunity research program to examine tick immune responses to pathogens that cause Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses UMD Professor Utpal Pal leads a team of investigators across multiple institutions that will receive up to $7.7 million over 5 years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for an ongoing tick research program to und

Utpal Pal and team at the University of Maryland, College Park, published a new paper identifying proteins that affect survival of Borrelia in Ixodes ticks. Lyme borreliosis, the most common vector-borne illness in Europe and the United States, is caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex and transmitted by Ixodes ticks. In humans, the spirochetes disseminate from the tick bite site to multiple tissues, leading to serious clinical manifestations. T

Erol Fikrig and team from the Yale University School of Medicine have published a method to visualize the microbiota in tick guts using whole-mount in situ hybridization. Infectious diseases transmitted by arthropod vectors continue to pose a significant threat to human health worldwide. The pathogens causing these diseases, do not exist in isolation when they colonize the vector; rather, they likely engage in interactions with resident microorganisms in the gut lumen. The v

Findings provide new insight into vector-host interactions and offer a functional paradigm to better understand the phenomenon of acquired tick-resistance New findings out of Yale University provide insight into the differences in hosts and their specific immune responses to repeated tick bites, with implications for understanding the process of becoming tick-resistant. Laboratory models in hosts like guinea pigs develop a strong immune response to tick salivary proteins and

Utpal Pal and team at the University of Maryland, College Park, published a new review of recent studies in immune response against Lyme disease pathogens. Although Ixodes scapularis and other related tick species are considered prolific vectors for a number of important human diseases, many aspects of their biology, microbial interactions, and immunity are largely unknown; in particular, how these ancient vectors recognize invading pathogens like Borrelia burgdorferi and in

Utpal Pal and team at the University of Maryland, College Park, published a new paper highlighting a newly discovered mechanism for Borrelia persistence. One of the Borrelia burgdorferi virulence determinants, annotated as Lmp1, is a surface‐exposed, conserved, and potential multi‐domain protein involved in various functions in spirochete infectivity. Lmp1 contributes to host–pathogen interactions and evasion of host adaptive immunity by spirochetes. Here, we show that in d

Findings have major implications for tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease A UMD researcher has uncovered a mechanism by which the bacteria that causes Lyme disease persists in the body and fights your early, innate immune responses. Dr. Utpal Pal, Professor in Veterinary Medicine, has been studying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria throughout his twelve years with UMD, and his work has already produced the protein marker used to identify this bacterial infection in the bo

Utpal Pal of the University of Maryland, College Park, edited a book in the Methods in Microbiology series on Borrelia burgdorferi Methods and Protocols. As a part of this book, he co-wrote a chapter with Erol Fikrig of the Yale University School of Medicine entitled Artificial Infection of Ticks with Borrelia burgdorferi Using a Microinjection Method and Their Detection In Vivo Using Quantitative PCR Targeting flaB RNA. Borrelia burgdorferi is maintained in nature by a tick