Understanding effective anti-parasite immunity and parasitism with lymph cannulation and genomics: towards better control options

• Grant number: 14/50269-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2014
• End date: September 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology - Applied Immunology
• Agreement: University of Melbourne
• Principal Investigator: Isabel Kinney Ferreira de Miranda Santos
• Grantee: Isabel Kinney Ferreira de Miranda Santos
• Principal researcher abroad: Jean-Pierre Scheerlinck
• Institution abroad: University of Melbourne, Australia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/50814-1 - Defining the genetic and semiochemical basis of tick resistance in cattle, AP.R

Abstract

Vaccines are a sustainable means to control endo and ectoparasites, but their development requires knowledge about components and induction of protective immunity and on mechanisms of parasitism. Acquisition of useful knowledge would benefit from techniques to access lymph draining the host's target organs of infections and from improved functional annotation of parasite transcriptomes. São Paulo (SP) scientists have experience in studying immunity to ticks in ruminants with traditional methods and with functional genomics of ticks and hosts. In order to better describe local immunity University of Melbourne (UM) scientists developed in ruminants a method to access the lymph that drains areas of immune reactions to parasites. They also study functional genomics of parasitic worms-Ticks and worms cause important problems in livestock in Brazil and Australia. This project will deepen understanding of mechanisms of resistance of hosts to ticks and mechanisms of parasitism. UM scientists will train SP scientists in lymph cannulalion technique using the SEI model of artificial tick infestations in bovines. UM and SP scientists will compare bioinformatics and functional annotation procedures of their existing tick and worm transcriptomes (bioinformatic pipelines and databases developed by UM scientists and pipelines used by SP scientists through a collaboration with NIH) and possibly identify common and tick- and worm-restricted mediators of parasitism. (AU)