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Pathogens
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Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models
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Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Ticks".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 8985

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andrea Varela-Stokes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA
Interests: tick-borne diseases; spotted fever group rickettsiae; animal models; guinea pig; parasitology
John Stokes

E-Mail
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA
Interests: tick-borne diseases; spotted fever group rickettsiae; animal models; guinea pig; assay development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

When we use animal models to ask questions about tick-borne diseases in humans, we are faced with the challenge of finding an appropriate surrogate for the human—a model species that demonstrates clinical disease and a shared biological response with humans. Scientists have used a wide variety of animal species as models for understanding interactions between the vertebrate, tick vector, and tick-borne pathogen for over a century.

For this Special Issue, we are inviting original research utilizing an animal model for studying mechanisms of tick-borne disease, emphasizing studies that use natural tick transmission. Studies with non-murine models are particularly solicited, with the choice of model (murine or non-murine) clearly justified in the manuscript. Tick-borne pathogens range from bacteria (e.g., Borrelia, spotted fever group Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma) to apicomplexan protozoa such as Babesia and viruses such as Heartland and Powassan. Short communications, methods papers formatted as original research or short communications, and reviews will also be considered.

Dr. Andrea Varela-Stokes
John Stokes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • transmission
  • tick-borne
  • immune response
  • guinea pig
  • mouse

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

12 pages, 4972 KiB  
Article
Repeated Tick Infestations Impair Borrelia burgdorferi Transmission in a Non-Human Primate Model of Tick Feeding
by Sukanya Narasimhan, Carmen J. Booth, Mario T. Philipp, Erol Fikrig and Monica E. Embers
Pathogens 2023, 12(1), 132; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens12010132 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2847
Abstract
The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the predominant vector of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease in the USA. Natural hosts of I. scapularis such as Peromyscus leucopus are repeatedly infested by these ticks without acquiring tick resistance. However, upon [...] Read more.
The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the predominant vector of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease in the USA. Natural hosts of I. scapularis such as Peromyscus leucopus are repeatedly infested by these ticks without acquiring tick resistance. However, upon repeated tick infestations, non-natural hosts such as guinea pigs, mount a robust immune response against critical tick salivary antigens and acquire tick resistance able to thwart tick feeding and Borrelia burgdorferi transmission. The salivary targets of acquired tick resistance could serve as vaccine targets to prevent tick feeding and the tick transmission of human pathogens. Currently, there is no animal model able to demonstrate both tick resistance and diverse clinical manifestations of Lyme disease. Non-human primates serve as robust models of human Lyme disease. By evaluating the responses to repeated tick infestation, this animal model could accelerate our ability to define the tick salivary targets of acquired resistance that may serve as vaccines to prevent the tick transmission of human pathogens. Towards this goal, we assessed the development of acquired tick resistance in non-human primates upon repeated tick infestations. We report that following repeated tick infestations, non-human primates do not develop the hallmarks of acquired tick resistance observed in guinea pigs. However, repeated tick infestations elicit immune responses able to impair the tick transmission of B. burgdorferi. A mechanistic understanding of the protective immune responses will provide insights into B. burgdorferi-tick–host interactions and additionally contribute to anti-tick vaccine discovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models)
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9 pages, 779 KiB  
Communication
Multiplex TaqMan® Quantitative PCR Assays for Host-Tick-Pathogen Studies Using the Guinea Pig-Tick-Rickettsia System
by Anne-Marie L. Ross, John V. Stokes, Claire E. Cross, Navatha Alugubelly and Andrea S. Varela-Stokes
Pathogens 2022, 11(5), 594; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11050594 - 18 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1810
Abstract
Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis (SFR) is caused by spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. (SFGR), and is associated with symptoms common to other illnesses, making it challenging to diagnose before detecting SFGR-specific antibodies. The guinea pig is a valuable biomedical model for studying Spotted Fever [...] Read more.
Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis (SFR) is caused by spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. (SFGR), and is associated with symptoms common to other illnesses, making it challenging to diagnose before detecting SFGR-specific antibodies. The guinea pig is a valuable biomedical model for studying Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis (SFR); its immune system is more like the human immune system than that of the murine model, and guinea pigs develop characteristic clinical signs. Thus, we have a compelling interest in developing, expanding, and optimizing tools for use in our guinea pig-Amblyomma-Rickettsia system for understanding host-tick-pathogen interactions. With the design and optimization of the three multiplex TaqMan® qPCR assays described here, we can detect the two SFGR, their respective primary Amblyomma sp. vectors, and the guinea pig model as part of controlled experimental studies using tick-transmission of SFGR to guinea pigs. We developed qPCR assays that reliably detect each specific target down to 10 copies by producing plasmid standards for each assay target, optimizing the individual primer-probe sets, and optimizing the final multiplex reactions in a methodical, stepwise fashion. We anticipate that these assays, currently designed for in vivo studies, will serve as a foundation for optimal SFGR detection in other systems, including fieldwork. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models)
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Review

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26 pages, 1041 KiB  
Review
Transmission Cycle of Tick-Borne Infections and Co-Infections, Animal Models and Diseases
by Sandra C. Rocha, Clara Vásquez Velásquez, Ahmed Aquib, Aya Al-Nazal and Nikhat Parveen
Pathogens 2022, 11(11), 1309; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11111309 - 08 Nov 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3789
Abstract
Tick-borne pathogens such as species of Borrelia, Babesia, Anaplasma, Rickettsia, and Ehrlichia are widespread in the United States and Europe among wildlife, in passerines as well as in domestic and farm animals. Transmission of these pathogens occurs by infected [...] Read more.
Tick-borne pathogens such as species of Borrelia, Babesia, Anaplasma, Rickettsia, and Ehrlichia are widespread in the United States and Europe among wildlife, in passerines as well as in domestic and farm animals. Transmission of these pathogens occurs by infected ticks during their blood meal, carnivorism, and through animal bites in wildlife, whereas humans can become infected either by an infected tick bite, through blood transfusion and in some cases, congenitally. The reservoir hosts play an important role in maintaining pathogens in nature and facilitate transmission of individual pathogens or of multiple pathogens simultaneously to humans through ticks. Tick-borne co-infections were first reported in the 1980s in white-footed mice, the most prominent reservoir host for causative organisms in the United States, and they are becoming a major concern for public health now. Various animal infection models have been used extensively to better understand pathogenesis of tick-borne pathogens and to reveal the interaction among pathogens co-existing in the same host. In this review, we focus on the prevalence of these pathogens in different reservoir hosts, animal models used to investigate their pathogenesis and host responses they trigger to understand diseases in humans. We also documented the prevalence of these pathogens as correlating with the infected ticks’ surveillance studies. The association of tick-borne co-infections with other topics such as pathogens virulence factors, host immune responses as they relate to diseases severity, identification of vaccine candidates, and disease economic impact are also briefly addressed here. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models)
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