The search to understand the development of the chicken immune system: Differences in expression of MHC class I loci and waves of thymocytes as evolutionary relics?

Chickens are renowned as a model for embryogenesis but have also been responsible for crucial advances in virology, cancer research and immunology. However, chickens are best known as a major source of animal protein for human nutrition, with roughly 80 billion chickens alive each year supplying meat and eggs, the vast majority part of a global poultry industry. As a result, avian immunology been studied intensively for over 60 years, and it has become clear that a major genetic locus in chickens determining resistance to infectious disease and response to vaccines is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC).

Do tissue-dwelling trypanosomes sustain transmission populations?

Trypanosoma brucei infectious populations are marked by considerable diversity in the parasite's major antigen, the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). However, most parasites in the bloodstream are non-replicating, questioning how VSG diversity arises. Beaver et al.

Mechanisms of life cycle simplification in African trypanosomes.

African trypanosomes are important parasites in sub-Saharan Africa that undergo a quorum-sensing dependent development to morphologically 'stumpy forms' in mammalian hosts to favour transmission by tsetse flies. However, some trypanosome clades have simplified their lifecycle by escaping dependence on tsetse allowing an expanded geographic range, with direct transmission between hosts achieved via blood-feeding biting flies and vampire bats (Trypanosoma brucei evansi, causing 'surra') or through sexual transmission (Trypanosoma brucei equiperdum, causing 'dourine'). Concomitantly, stumpy formation is reduced and the isolates are described as monomorphic, with infections spread widely in Africa, Asia, South America and parts of Europe.

A personal view on developmental and comparative immunology: What, how and why?

What are the future directions of the fields of developmental and comparative immunology? In thinking through this question as I write, I find myself marvelling at the very long ways that we have come since I began as a PhD student some 50 years ago. I think that we cannot know what technical and theoretical advances will emerge in the future, nor will our initial aims survive the realities of what appears in our sights, often from unexpected directions. I feel that we should not allow what we already know about some well-studied systems to blind us to the wide range of possibilities, and that remaining a humble seeker helps the uptake of new realities.

Assessment of urine metabolite biomarkers for the detection of S. haematobium infection in pre-school aged children in a rural community in Zimbabwe.

Background: Early diagnosis of urogenital schistosomiasis is key to its control and elimination. The current gold standard microscopic examination techniques lack sensitivity in detecting light Schistosomiasis infections in pre-school aged children thus it is urgent to develop diagnostic tools that may be integrated into control programs. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of urine metabolite biomarkers using a chemical reagent strip in the detection of S.

Evaluation of a FlpA Glycoconjugate Vaccine with Ten -Heptasaccharide Glycan Moieties to reduce Colonisation in Chickens.

is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans, and infections can be followed by inflammatory neuropathies and other sequelae. Handling or consumption of poultry meat is the primary risk factor for human campylobacteriosis, and remains highly prevalent in retail chicken in many countries. Control of in the avian reservoir is expected to limit the incidence of human disease.

A conserved trypanosomatid differentiation regulator controls substrate attachment and morphological development in Trypanosoma congolense.

Trypanosomatid parasites undergo developmental regulation to adapt to the different environments encountered during their life cycle. In Trypanosoma brucei, a genome wide selectional screen previously identified a regulator of the protein family ESAG9, which is highly expressed in stumpy forms, a morphologically distinct bloodstream stage adapted for tsetse transmission. This regulator, TbREG9.

Dantu Blood Group Erythrocytes Form Large Plasmodium falciparum Rosettes Less Commonly.

Dantu erythrocytes, which express a hybrid glycophorin B/A protein, are protective against severe malaria. Recent studies have shown that Dantu impairs Plasmodium falciparum invasion by increasing erythrocyte membrane tension, but its effects on pathological host-parasite adhesion interactions such as rosetting, the binding of uninfected erythrocytes to P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes, have not been investigated previously.

A chromosome-level genome assembly for the Silkie chicken resolves complete sequences for key chicken metabolic, reproductive, and immunity genes.

A set of high-quality pan-genomes would help identify important genes that are still hidden/incomplete in bird reference genomes. In an attempt to address these issues, we have assembled a de novo chromosome-level reference genome of the Silkie (Gallus gallus domesticus), which is an important avian model for unique traits, like fibromelanosis, with unclear genetic foundation. This Silkie genome includes the complete genomic sequences of well-known, but unresolved, evolutionarily, endocrinologically, and immunologically important genes, including leptin, ovocleidin-17, and tumor-necrosis factor-α.

Deletion of the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTPN22 for adoptive T cell therapy facilitates CTL effector function but promotes T cell exhaustion.

Background: Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) is a promising strategy for treating cancer, yet it faces several challenges such as lack of long-term protection due to T cell exhaustion induced by chronic TCR stimulation in the tumor microenvironment. One benefit of ACT, however, is that it allows for cellular manipulations, such as deletion of the phosphotyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22), which improves CD8 T cell antitumor efficacy in ACT. We tested whether cytolytic T cells (CTLs) were also more effective than CTL in controlling tumors in scenarios that favor T cell exhaustion.

Disentangling the innate immune responses of intestinal epithelial cells and lamina propria cells to Typhimurium infection in chickens.

serovar Typhimurium (STm) is a major foodborne pathogen and poultry are a key reservoir of human infections. To understand the host responses to early stages of infection in poultry, we infected 2D and 3D enteroids, the latter of which contains leukocytes, neurons, and mesenchymal cells that are characteristic of the lamina propria. We infected these enteroids with wild-type (WT STm), a non-invasive mutant lacking the gene (Δ STm), or treated them with STm lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and analyzed the expression of innate immune related genes by qPCR at 4 and 8 h.

Cell-cell communication in African trypanosomes.

Years of research have shown us that unicellular organisms do not exist entirely in isolation, but rather that they are capable of an altogether far more sociable way of living. Single cells produce, receive and interpret signals, coordinating and changing their behaviour according to the information received. Although this cell-cell communication has long been considered the norm in the bacterial world, an increasing body of knowledge is demonstrating that single-celled eukaryotic parasites also maintain active social lives.

Discovery of the vector of visceral leishmaniasis, () Sinton, 1928, in Kenya suggests complex transmission dynamics.

Visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis are endemic to specific regions due to the ecological preferences of phlebotomine sand flies and spp. transmission. Sand fly entomological data in northern Kenya are scarce due to limited studies and neglect of leishmaniasis.

Evaluation of N-glycan-decorated live attenuated Escherichia coli and outer membrane vesicles as vaccines against Campylobacter jejuni colonisation in chickens.

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading global cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans, and poultry are a major reservoir. Glycoconjugate vaccines containing the conserved C. jejuni N-glycan have previously been reported to be effective at reducing caecal colonisation of chickens by C.

Understanding the evolution of immune genes in jawed vertebrates.

Driven by co-evolution with pathogens, host immunity continuously adapts to optimize defence against pathogens within a given environment. Recent advances in genetics, genomics and transcriptomics have enabled a more detailed investigation into how immunogenetic variation shapes the diversity of immune responses seen across domestic and wild animal species. However, a deeper understanding of the diverse molecular mechanisms that shape immunity within and among species is still needed to gain insight into-and generate evolutionary hypotheses on-the ultimate drivers of immunological differences.

The association of systemic inflammation and cognitive functions of pre-school aged children residing in a endemic area in Zimbabwe.

Background: Cognitive function is negatively impacted by schistosomiasis and might be caused by systemic inflammation which has been hypothesized to be one of the mechanisms driving cognitive decline, This study explored the association of systemic inflammatory biomarkers; interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, IL-17, transforming growth factor (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP) and hematological parameters with cognitive performance of preschool-aged children (PSAC) from an Schistosoma haematobium endemic area.

Methods: The Griffith III tool was used to measure the cognitive performance of 136 PSAC. Whole blood and sera were collected and used to quantify levels of IL-10, TNF-α, IL-6, TGF-β, IL-17 A and CRP using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and hematological parameters using the hematology analyzer.

What does equitable global health research and delivery look like? Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) partnership as a case study.

There is a current global push to identify and implement best practice for delivering maximum impact from development research in low-income and middle-income countries. Here, we describe a model of research and capacity building that challenges traditional approaches taken by western funders in Africa. Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) is a global health research and delivery partnership with a focus on strengthening health systems to combat neglected tropical diseases, malaria and emerging pathogens in Africa.