Deciphering Aedes aegypti-vertebrate host interactions at skin level by imaging mass spectrometry

• Grant number: 19/10839-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: August 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors
• Principal Investigator: Anderson de Sá Nunes
• Grantee: Anderson de Sá Nunes
• Host Investigator: Carlos Henrique Cardoso Serezani
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Vanderbilt University (VU), United States

Abstract

Aedes aegypti is a cosmopolitan mosquito species that transmits arboviruses that cause emerging and re-emerging diseases such as yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya and Zika. When attempting to feed on a vertebrate host, the Ae. aegypti mouthparts are inserted into the skin and saliva is deposited in this microenvironment, assisting in the location of blood vessels and counteracting molecules and resident cells responsible for the host's hemostasis, inflammatory and immune responses. Ae. aegypti saliva also triggers cutaneous allergic inflammation and is associated with the enhancement of viral infectivity. Frequent unanswered questions on the Ae. aegypti-vertebrate host interactions are related to the immunological environment created by mosquito saliva in the host skin, the effective amount of saliva that reaches the tissue during blood feeding and the dynamics of its distribution over time. In the present project, we propose to address these points by employing imaging mass spectrometry, a powerful technique capable of providing the spatial distribution of thousands of unlabeled molecules in tissue samples. A collaboration was established with Dr. Carlos Henrique Serezani and Dr. Julian F. Hillyer from Vanderbilt University in order to evaluate skin environment following Ae. aegypti bites having the support of the institutional Mass Spectrometry Research Center (MSRC). We expect to uncover the spatial and temporal dynamics of the mosquito saliva distribution in the skin, to provide in situ saliva quantification and to create a 3-dimensional map of inflammatory cells following mosquito bites. Such findings will contribute to refine our understanding on the mosquito-vertebrate host interactions in a molecular level. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GUERTA SALINA, ANA CAROLINA; BRANDT, STEPHANIE L.; KLOPFENSTEIN, NATHAN; BLACKMAN, AMONDREA; RIBEIRO BAZZANO, JULIA MIRANDA; SA-NUNES, ANDERSON; BYERS-GLOSSON, NICOLE; BRODSKYN, CLAUDIA; TAVARES, NATALIA MACHADO; SANTOS DA SILVA, ICARO BONYEK; et al. Leukotriene B-4 licenses inflammasome activation to enhance skin host defense. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. 117, n. 48, p. 30619-30627, DEC 1 2020. (17/19870-6, 17/04786-0, 19/10839-4, 18/01622-9)