Research Overview
Mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, lymphatic filariasis and numerous arboviruses cause morbidity and mortality in hundreds of millions of people throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Traditional control methods are becoming increasingly less effective; consequently, there is a concerted effort to develop new control strategies, aimed at the mosquito vector, that might be used to disrupt pathogen transmission and reduce the severity of disease. In order to realize success in this area it is imperative that we gain a better understanding of those factors that influence compatibility and incompatibility between a mosquito and the pathogen it transmits. Our laboratory employs various biochemical, genetic, cellular and molecular techniques in efforts to better understand how a particular mosquito species initiates an immune response capable of killing an ingested pathogen and, likewise, how certain parasites are capable of overcoming this response and developing to the infective stage. We maintain and employ the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, Ae. triseriatus, Ae. albopictus, Armigeres subalbatus, and Culex pipiens, the filarial worms Brugia malayi, B. pahangi, and Dirofilaria immitis, the malaria parasite Plasmodium gallinaceum, and several arboviruses (Sindbis, Jamestown Canyon, LaCrosse) in these studies. Of primary interest are investigations of (1) the melanotic encapsulation immune response of mosquitoes against filarial worms, (2) cellular aspects of the innate immune response of mosquitoes, with special emphasis on evaluation of the transcriptome of phagocytosing hemocytes, (3) the biochemical characterization and genetic regulation of chitin synthesis during peritrophic membrane formation in the midgut of mosquitoes and how this might play a role in vector competence, and (4) clarifying the role mosquito immunity plays in vector competence of Cx. pipiens, a natural vector of bancroftian filariasis (caused by Wuchereria bancrofti). Several of these projects involve active collaborations with research groups in Illinois, Egypt, and Taiwan.
