Antibodies to D7L salivary proteins as a new serological tool to estimate human exposure to mosquitoes.

Introduction: are the most prolific mosquito vectors in the world. Found on every continent, they can effectively transmit various arboviruses, including the dengue virus which continues to cause outbreaks worldwide and is spreading into previously non-endemic areas. The lack of widely available dengue vaccines accentuates the importance of targeted vector control strategies to reduce the dengue burden.

Antibodies to D7L salivary proteins as a new serological tool to estimate human exposure to mosquitoes.

Introduction: are the most prolific mosquito vectors in the world. Found on every continent, they can effectively transmit various arboviruses, including the dengue virus which continues to cause outbreaks worldwide and is spreading into previously non-endemic areas. The lack of widely available dengue vaccines accentuates the importance of targeted vector control strategies to reduce the dengue burden.

Centrin-deficient Leishmania mexicana confers protection against Old World visceral leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis is one of the top neglected tropical diseases with significant morbidity and mortality in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, this disease is also spreading in the developed world. Currently, there is a lack of effective strategies to control this disease.

Light chain 2 is a Tctex-type related axonemal dynein light chain that regulates directional ciliary motility in Trypanosoma brucei.

Flagellar motility is essential for the cell morphology, viability, and virulence of pathogenic kinetoplastids. Trypanosoma brucei flagella beat with a bending wave that propagates from the flagellum's tip to its base, rather than base-to-tip as in other eukaryotes. Thousands of dynein motor proteins coordinate their activity to drive ciliary bending wave propagation.

Preclinical validation of a live attenuated dermotropic Leishmania vaccine against vector transmitted fatal visceral leishmaniasis.

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), a potentially fatal disease is caused by Leishmania donovani parasites with no vaccine available. Here we produced a dermotropic live attenuated centrin gene deleted Leishmania major (LmCen) vaccine under Good Laboratory Practices and demonstrated that a single intradermal injection confers robust and durable protection against lethal VL transmitted naturally via bites of L. donovani-infected sand flies and prevents mortality.

Engineering a vector-based pan-Leishmania vaccine for humans: proof of principle.

Leishmaniasis is a spectrum of diseases transmitted by sand fly vectors that deposit Leishmania spp. parasites in the host skin during blood feeding. Currently, available treatment options are limited, associated with high toxicity and emerging resistance.

Binding of Leishmania infantum Lipophosphoglycan to the Midgut Is Not Sufficient To Define Vector Competence in Sand Flies.

The major surface lipophosphoglycan (LPG) of parasites is critical to vector competence in restrictive sand fly vectors in mediating attachment to the midgut epithelium, considered essential to parasite survival and development. However, the relevance of LPG for sand flies that harbor multiple species of remains elusive. We tested binding of wild-type (WT), LPG-defective (Δ mutants), and add-back (Δ+) lines to sand fly midguts and their survival in sand flies WT parasites attached to the midgut , with late-stage parasites binding to midguts in significantly higher numbers than were seen with early-stage promastigotes.

A second generation leishmanization vaccine with a markerless attenuated Leishmania major strain using CRISPR gene editing.

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania protozoa transmitted by infected sand flies. Vaccination through leishmanization with live Leishmania major has been used successfully but is no longer practiced because it resulted in occasional skin lesions. A second generation leishmanization is described here using a CRISPR genome edited L.

Immunity to vector saliva is compromised by short sand fly seasons in endemic regions with temperate climates.

Individuals exposed to sand fly bites develop humoral and cellular immune responses to sand fly salivary proteins. Moreover, cellular immunity to saliva or distinct salivary proteins protects against leishmaniasis in various animal models. In Tbilisi, Georgia, an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), sand flies are abundant for a short period of ≤3 months.