Browsing by Subject "Virus diseases"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessment of Trinidad community stakeholder perspectives on the use of yeast interfering RNA-baited ovitraps for biorational control of Aedes mosquitoes
    (PLOS, 2021-06-29) Winter, Nikhella; Stewart, Akilah T.M.; Igiede, Jessica; Wiltshire, Rachel M.; Hapairai, Limb K.; James, Lester D.; Mohammed, Azad; Severson, David W.; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses continue to be a major public health burden. Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vectors responsible for transmitting these viral pathogens, continue to flourish due to local challenges in vector control management. Yeast interfering RNA-baited larval lethal ovitraps are being developed as a novel biorational control tool for Aedes mosquitoes. This intervention circumvents increasing issues with insecticide resistance and poses no known threat to non-target organisms. In an effort to create public awareness of this alternative vector control strategy, gain stakeholder feedback regarding product design and acceptance of the new intervention, and build capacity for its potential integration into existing mosquito control programs, this investigation pursued community stakeholder engagement activities, which were undertaken in Trinidad and Tobago. Three forms of assessment, including paper surveys, community forums, and household interviews, were used with the goal of evaluating local community stakeholders' knowledge of mosquitoes, vector control practices, and perceptions of the new technology. These activities facilitated evaluation of the hypothesis that the ovitraps would be broadly accepted by community stakeholders as a means of biorational control for Aedes mosquitoes. A comparison of the types of stakeholder input communicated through use of the three assessment tools highlighted the utility and merit of using each tool for assessing new global health interventions. Most study participants reported a general willingness to purchase an ovitrap on condition that it would be affordable and safe for human health and the environment. Stakeholders provided valuable input on product design, distribution, and operation. A need for educational campaigns that provide a mechanism for educating stakeholders about vector ecology and management was highlighted. The results of the investigation, which are likely applicable to many other Caribbean nations and other countries with heavy arboviral disease burdens, were supportive of supplementation of existing vector control strategies through the use of the yeast RNAi-based ovitraps.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Immune evasion of the CD1d/NKT cell axis
    (Elsevier, 2018-06) Brutkiewicz, Randy R.; Yunes-Medina, Laura; Liu, Jianyun; Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine
    Many reviews on the CD1d/NKT cell axis focus on the ability of CD1d-restricted NKT cells to serve as effector cells in a variety of disorders, be they infectious diseases, cancer or autoimmunity. In contrast, here, we discuss the ways that viruses, bacteria and tumor cells can evade the CD1d/NKT cell axis. As a result, these disease states have a better chance to establish a foothold and potentially cause problems for the subsequent adaptive immune response, as the host tries to rid itself of infections or tumors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Signatures for Viral Infection and Inflammation in the Proximal Olfactory System in Familial Alzheimer’s Disease
    (Elsevier, 2023) Bubak, Andrew N.; Merle, Laetitia; Niemeyer, Christy S.; Baxter, B. Dnate’; Gentile Polese, Arianna; Ramakrishnan, Vijay; Gomez, Johana; Madrigal, Lucia; Villegas-Lanau, Andres; Lopera, Francisco; Macklin, Wendy; Frietze, Seth; Nagel, Maria A.; Restrepo, Diego; Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine
    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by deficits in olfaction and olfactory pathology preceding diagnosis of dementia. Here we analyzed differential gene and protein expression in the olfactory bulb (OB) and tract (OT) of familial AD (FAD) individuals carrying the autosomal dominant presenilin 1 E280A mutation. Compared to control, FAD OT had increased immunostaining for β-amyloid (Aβ) and CD68 in high and low myelinated regions, as well as increased immunostaining for Iba1 in the high myelinated region. In FAD samples, RNA sequencing showed: (1) viral infection in the OB; (2) inflammation in the OT that carries information via entorhinal cortex from the OB to hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning and memory; and (3) decreased oligodendrocyte deconvolved transcripts. Interestingly, spatial proteomic analysis confirmed altered myelination in the OT of FAD individuals, implying dysfunction of communication between the OB and hippocampus. These findings raise the possibility that viral infection and associated inflammation and dysregulation of myelination of the olfactory system may disrupt hippocampal function, contributing to acceleration of FAD progression.