UMD Scientists Join $2.7M DOD Study on Mosquito and Tick Cell Signaling
UMD's Utpal Pal studies black legged ticks such as the one shown above, which are the primary vector for Lyme disease.
Image Credit: Wikipmedia commons
University of Maryland researchers are part of a team that will compare how cells in mosquitoes and ticks pass along messages, which could lead to common methods for controlling both pests, reducing their risk of spreading diseases like malaria and Lyme.
Utpal Pal, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at UMD is collaborating with Shirley Luckhart from the University of Idaho and Stephen Dumler from the Uniformed Services University on a four-year, $2.7 million Department of Defense (DOD) grant to evaluate similarities and differences between a pair of ancient signaling pathways in the cells of both blood-feeders. The project will also analyze how these pathways affect transmission of important disease-causing microbes.
A cellular signaling pathway is like a relay system inside a cell. It starts when a hormone or chemical binds to a receptor on the cell surface. This triggers a chain of events inside the cell, passing a message specific to that hormone or chemical through different molecules. When the message reaches the target — usually the DNA, it causes a cellular response, such as turning on genes. In the case of ticks or mosquitoes, this may result in a change in the pest’s behavior and ability to transmit disease-causing microbes.
The research has multiple ramifications for human health. The pathways the researchers will be evaluating are also present in humans, and the findings should shed light on how they evolved in primitive organisms. Of direct concern to the global public, and military who often encounter both pests during deployments, ticks and mosquitoes can transmit many dangerous diseases. Ticks are primary vectors for Lyme, tularemia, spotted fever and other diseases, and mosquitoes carry malaria, Dengue fever, and many other pathogens.
“We are looking at the developmental biology of ticks and mosquitoes to see if they share similar signaling pathways, because that might enable the development of similar strategies for interventions and controls,” Pal said.
He became involved in this study when Luckhart recognized the similarity in their work on different species and reached out to him for collaboration. In 2016, Pal discovered the first interspecies signaling pathway between an arthropod parasite and its host, and in 2023, further identified the mechanics and critical importance of the signaling relay by showing that ticks grow faster and produce an immune response when fed the blood of mice infected with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Luckhart studies signaling pathways that allow mosquitos to draw information from hosts’ blood.
“I read some really interesting work Utpal published within the last couple of years and I thought, ‘Wow, it’s going in the same direction that we’re working on in mosquitoes right now,’” Luckhart said. “It’s always bugged me: ‘Why aren’t we working together on these things?’”
"Shared Biology, Shared Benefits: Leveraging Conserved Signaling in Mosquitoes and Ticks to Identify Unique Targets for Multi-pathogen Transmission Blocking” is funded with a four-year, $2.7 million Department of Defense grant, of which 100% is the federal share, under award number 1I80VP000622.
In addition to Utpal Pal, other UMD researchers on this project include research assistant professors Vipin Singh Rana and Chrysoula Kitsou. Other collaborators on the project include University of Idaho professor Ed Lewis and postdoctoral fellow Kevin Ochwedo and the research teams of Stephen Dumler, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Uniformed Services University (USU) in Bethesda.
This story was adapted from the original posted on University of Idaho’s newsroom: (https://www.uidaho.edu/newsroom/mosquito-tick-pathways)
