Publications

For full publication list, click here:

The human CD47 checkpoint is targeted by an immunosuppressive Aedes aegypti salivary factor to enhance arboviral skin infectivity

Alejandro Marin-Lopez, John D. Huck, Allen T. Esterly, Veronica Azcutia, Connor Rosen, Rolando Garcia-Milian, Esen Sefik, Gemma Vidal-Pedrola, 1 Hamidah Raduwan, Tse-Yu Chen, Gunjan Arora, Stephanie Halene, Albert C. Shaw, Noah W Palm, Richard A. Flavell, Charles A Parkos, Saravanan Thangamani, Aaron M. Ring, and Erol Fikrig

Science Immunology 2024 (accepted)

A safe insect-based Chikungunya fever vaccine affords rapid and durable protection in cynomolgus macaques

Awadalkareem Adam, Courtney Woolsey, Hannah Lu, Kenneth Plante, Shannon M.Wallace, Leslie Rodriguez, Divya P. Shinde, Yingjun Cui, Alexander W.E. Franz, SaravananThangamani, Jason E. Comer, Scott C. Weaver, Tian WangbioRxiv 2024.05.21.595029; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.21.595029 (in editorial review)

Differential immunoregulation by human SP-A variants determines the severity of SARS-CoV-2-induced lung disease

Ikechukwu B. Jacob; Akinkunmi O. Lawal; Salma S. Mahmoud; Emerson M. Kopsack; Erin S. Reynolds; Qinghe Meng; Hongkuan Fan, Paul T. Massa; Saravanan Thangamani; Hongpeng Jia ; Guirong Wang. 2024 

(in editorial review)

Human surfactant protein A inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and alleviates lung injury in a mouse infection model. 

Jacob IB, Gemmiti A, Xiong W, Reynolds E, Nicholas B, Thangamani S, Jia H, Wang G.

Front Immunol. 2024 Mar 26;15:1370511. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1370511. eCollection 2024.

PMID: 38596675 

The Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, salivary factors exacerbate the clinical outcome of Heartland virus disease in a small animal model. 

Reynolds ES, Wooldridge JT, Stevenson HL, Thangamani S.

Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 16;13(1):13304. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-40397-x.

PMID: 37587216 

Quantification and persistence of COVID-19 virus in recently deceased individuals before and after embalming. 

Gitto L, Middleton FA, Reynolds ES, Thangamani S, Jaeger DA, Mihaila DM.

Anat Sci Educ. 2023 Sep-Oct;16(5):802-813. doi: 10.1002/ase.2300. Epub 2023 Jun 18.

PMID: 37332120

Community engaged tick surveillance and tickMAP as a public health tool to track the emergence of ticks and tick-borne diseases in New York. 

Hart CE, Bhaskar JR, Reynolds E, Hermance M, Earl M, Mahoney M, Martinez A, Petzlova I, Esterly AT, Thangamani S.

PLOS Glob Public Health. 2022 Jun 27;2(6):e0000215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000215. eCollection 2022.

PMID: 36962313 

Powassan Virus Lineage I in Field-Collected Dermacentor variabilis Ticks, New York, USA. 

Hart C, Hassett E, Vogels CBF, Shapley D, Grubaugh ND, Thangamani S.

Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Feb;29(2):415-417. doi: 10.3201/eid2902.220410.

PMID: 36692472 

Human attachment site preferences of ticks parasitizing in New York. 

Hart C, Schad LA, Bhaskar JR, Reynolds ES, Morley CP, Thangamani S.

Sci Rep. 2022 Dec 3;12(1):20897. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-25486-7.

PMID: 36463334 

Evaluations of rationally designed rift valley fever vaccine candidate RVax-1 in mosquito and rodent models. 

Ikegami T, Jurado-Cobena E, Alkan C, Smith JK, Zhang L, Kalveram B, Juelich TL, Esterly AT, Bhaskar JR, Thangamani S, Freiberg AN.

NPJ Vaccines. 2022 Sep 21;7(1):109. doi: 10.1038/s41541-022-00536-3.

PMID: 36131104 

Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi Increases the Replication and Dissemination of Coinfecting Powassan Virus in Ixodes scapularis Ticks. 

Hart CE, Middleton FA, Thangamani S.

Viruses. 2022 Jul 21;14(7):1584. doi: 10.3390/v14071584.

PMID: 35891563 

A Human Skin Model for Assessing Arboviral Infections. 

Esterly AT, Lloyd MG, Upadhyaya P, Moffat JF, Thangamani S.

JID Innov. 2022 Apr 12;2(4):100128. doi: 10.1016/j.xjidi.2022.100128. eCollection 2022 Jul.

PMID: 35812722 

Established Populations of Rickettsia parkeri-Infected Amblyomma maculatum Ticks in New York City, New York, USA. 

Ramírez-Garofalo JR, Curley SR, Field CE, Hart CE, Thangamani S.

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2022 Mar;22(3):184-187. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2021.0085. Epub 2021 Dec 24.

PMID: 34958248

Ecology of Powassan Virus in the United States. 

Hassett EM, Thangamani S.

Microorganisms. 2021 Nov 9;9(11):2317. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9112317.

PMID: 34835443  Review.

Salivary gland extract from the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, facilitates neuroinvasion by Powassan virus in BALB/c mice. 

Santos RI, Hermance ME, Reynolds ES, Thangamani S.

Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 22;11(1):20873. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-00021-2.

PMID: 34686683 

The Use of Arthropod-Borne Challenge Models in BSL-3Ag and BSL-4 Biocontainment. 

Higgs S, Vanlandingham DL, Huang YS, Thangamani S.

ILAR J. 2022 Jan 7;61(1):18-31. doi: 10.1093/ilar/ilab013.

PMID: 33951733 Review.

Optimized production and immunogenicity of an insect virus-based chikungunya virus candidate vaccine in cell culture and animal models. 

Adam A, Luo H, Osman SR, Wang B, Roundy CM, Auguste AJ, Plante KS, Peng BH, Thangamani S, Frolova EI, Frolov I, Weaver SC, Wang T.

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021 Dec;10(1):305-316. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1886598.

PMID: 33539255 

Tick-virus interactions: Current understanding and future perspectives. 

Hart CE, Thangamani S.

Parasite Immunol. 2021 May;43(5):e12815. doi: 10.1111/pim.12815. Epub 2021 Jan 9.

PMID: 33368375 Review.

Crystallization of a nonclassical Kazal-type Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda serine protease inhibitor, CrSPI-1, complexed with subtilisin. Corrigendum. 

Shenoy RT, Thangamani S, Ho B, Sivaraman J, Ding JL.

Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun. 2020 Dec 1;76(Pt 12):623. doi: 10.1107/S2053230X20014685. Epub 2020 Nov 27.

PMID: 33263575 

Isothermal Recombinase Polymerase Amplification-Lateral Flow Point-of-Care Diagnostic Test for Heartland Virus. 

Shelite TR, Bopp NE, Moncayo A, Reynolds ES, Thangamani S, Melby PC, Bloch K, Aguilar PV, Travi BL.

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2021 Feb;21(2):110-115. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2670. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

PMID: 33259736

A novel synthetic DNA vaccine elicits protective immune responses against Powassan virus. 

Choi H, Kudchodkar SB, Ho M, Reuschel EL, Reynolds E, Xu Z, Bordoloi D, Ugen KE, Tebas P, Kim J, Abdel-Mohsen M, Thangamani S, Weiner DB, Muthumani K.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Oct 29;14(10):e0008788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008788. eCollection 2020 Oct.

PMID: 33119599 

Development of a small animal model for deer tick virus pathogenesis mimicking human clinical outcome. 

Hermance ME, Hart CE, Esterly AT, Reynolds ES, Bhaskar JR, Thangamani S.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Jun 15;14(6):e0008359. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008359. eCollection 2020 Jun.

PMID: 32542017 

Measuring Alphavirus Fidelity Using Non-Infectious Virus Particles. 

Patterson EI, Khanipov K, Swetnam DM, Walsdorf S, Kautz TF, Thangamani S, Fofanov Y, Forrester NL.

Viruses. 2020 May 15;12(5):546. doi: 10.3390/v12050546.

PMID: 32429270 

Utilization of RNA in situ Hybridization to Understand the Cellular Localization of Powassan Virus RNA at the Tick-Virus-Host Interface. 

Hermance ME, Thangamani S.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Apr 28;10:172. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00172. eCollection 2020.

PMID: 32411615 

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Infection Alters the Sialome of Ixodes ricinus Ticks During the Earliest Stages of Feeding. 

Hart CE, Ribeiro JM, Kazimirova M, Thangamani S.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Feb 18;10:41. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00041. eCollection 2020.

PMID: 32133301 

Detection of Rickettsiae, Borreliae, and Ehrlichiae in Ticks Collected from Walker County, Texas, 2017-2018. 

Mendell NL, Reynolds ES, Blanton LS, Hermance ME, Londoño AF, Hart CE, Quade BR, Esterly AT, Hendrix CB, Teel PD, Bouyer DH, Thangamani S.

Insects. 2019 Sep 25;10(10):315. doi: 10.3390/insects10100315.

PMID: 31557808 

Ixodes scapularis salivary gland microRNAs are differentially expressed during Powassan virus transmission. 

Hermance ME, Widen SG, Wood TG, Thangamani S.

Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 11;9(1):13110. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49572-5.

PMID: 31511580 

Viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase mutants display an altered mutation spectrum resulting in attenuation in both mosquito and vertebrate hosts. 

Warmbrod KL, Patterson EI, Kautz TF, Stanton A, Rockx-Brouwer D, Kalveram BK, Khanipov K, Thangamani S, Fofanov Y, Forrester NL.

PLoS Pathog. 2019 Apr 4;15(4):e1007610. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007610. eCollection 2019 Apr.

PMID: 30947291 

Meeting the challenge of tick-borne disease control: A proposal for 1000 Ixodes genomes. 

Murgia MV, Bell-Sakyi L, de la Fuente J, Kurtti TJ, Makepeace BL, Mans B, McCoy KD, Munderloh U, Plantard O, Rispe C, Valle MR, Tabor A, Thangamani S, Thimmapuram J, Hill CA.

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Jan;10(1):213-218. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.08.009. Epub 2018 Aug 24.

PMID: 30266208 No abstract available.

Tick⁻Virus⁻Host Interactions at the Cutaneous Interface: The Nidus of Flavivirus Transmission. 

Hermance ME, Thangamani S.

Viruses. 2018 Jul 7;10(7):362. doi: 10.3390/v10070362.

PMID: 29986483  Review.

Generation of a Lineage II Powassan Virus (Deer Tick Virus) cDNA Clone: Assessment of Flaviviral Genetic Determinants of Tick and Mosquito Vector Competence. 

Kenney JL, Anishchenko M, Hermance M, Romo H, Chen CI, Thangamani S, Brault AC.

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2018 Jul;18(7):371-381. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2017.2224. Epub 2018 May 21.

PMID: 29782238 

Expression of a Synthetic Gene for the Major Cytotoxin (Cyt1Aa) of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis in the Chloroplast of Wild-Type Chlamydomonas. 

Kang S, Odom OW, Malone CL, Thangamani S, Herrin DL.

Biology (Basel). 2018 May 8;7(2):29. doi: 10.3390/biology7020029.

PMID: 29738473 

Transcriptional Immunoprofiling at the Tick-Virus-Host Interface during Early Stages of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Transmission. 

Thangamani S, Hermance ME, Santos RI, Slovak M, Heinze D, Widen SG, Kazimirova M.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017 Dec 1;7:494. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00494. eCollection 2017.

PMID: 29250492 

Heartland virus infection in hamsters deficient in type I interferon signaling: Protracted disease course ameliorated by favipiravir. 

Westover JB, Rigas JD, Van Wettere AJ, Li R, Hickerson BT, Jung KH, Miao J, Reynolds ES, Conrad BL, Nielson S, Furuta Y, Thangamani S, Wang Z, Gowen BB.

Virology. 2017 Nov;511:175-183. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2017.08.004. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

PMID: 28865344 

Tick-Borne Viruses and Biological Processes at the Tick-Host-Virus Interface. 

Kazimírová M, Thangamani S, Bartíková P, Hermance M, Holíková V, Štibrániová I, Nuttall PA.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017 Jul 26;7:339. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00339. eCollection 2017.

PMID: 28798904  Review.

Experimental Infection with and Maintenance of Cell Fusing Agent Virus (Flavivirus) in Aedes aegypti. 

Contreras-Gutierrez MA, Guzman H, Thangamani S, Vasilakis N, Tesh RB.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Jul;97(1):299-304. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0987.

PMID: 28719335 

Zika virus alters the microRNA expression profile and elicits an RNAi response in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. 

Saldaña MA, Etebari K, Hart CE, Widen SG, Wood TG, Thangamani S, Asgari S, Hughes GL.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017 Jul 17;11(7):e0005760. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005760. eCollection 2017 Jul.

PMID: 28715413 

Toward mosquito control with a green alga: Expression of Cry toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas. 

Kang S, Odom OW, Thangamani S, Herrin DL.

J Appl Phycol. 2017 Jun;29(3):1377-1389. doi: 10.1007/s10811-016-1008-z. Epub 2016 Nov 23.

PMID: 28713202 

An Overview of Animal Models for Arthropod-Borne Viruses. 

Reynolds ES, Hart CE, Hermance ME, Brining DL, Thangamani S.

Comp Med. 2017 Jun 1;67(3):232-241.

PMID: 28662752  Review.

Powassan Virus: An Emerging Arbovirus of Public Health Concern in North America. 

Hermance ME, Thangamani S.

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2017 Jul;17(7):453-462. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2017.2110. Epub 2017 May 12.

PMID: 28498740  Review.

Zika Virus Vector Competency of Mosquitoes, Gulf Coast, United States. 

Hart CE, Roundy CM, Azar SR, Huang JH, Yun R, Reynolds E, Leal G, Nava MR, Vela J, Stark PM, Debboun M, Rossi S, Vasilakis N, Thangamani S, Weaver SC.

Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Mar;23(3):559-560. doi: 10.3201/eid2303.161636. Epub 2017 Mar 15.

PMID: 28005002 

Vertical Transmission of Zika Virus in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes. 

Thangamani S, Huang J, Hart CE, Guzman H, Tesh RB.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Nov 2;95(5):1169-1173. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.16-0448. Epub 2016 Aug 29.

PMID: 27573623 

Concurrent micro-RNA mediated silencing of tick-borne flavivirus replication in tick vector and in the brain of vertebrate host. 

Tsetsarkin KA, Liu G, Kenney H, Hermance M, Thangamani S, Pletnev AG.

Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 13;6:33088. doi: 10.1038/srep33088.

PMID: 27620807 

Spinal Cord Ventral Horns and Lymphoid Organ Involvement in Powassan Virus Infection in a Mouse Model. 

Santos RI, Hermance ME, Gelman BB, Thangamani S.

Viruses. 2016 Aug 12;8(8):220. doi: 10.3390/v8080220.

PMID: 27529273 

Immune Cell Targets of Infection at the Tick-Skin Interface during Powassan Virus Transmission. 

Hermance ME, Santos RI, Kelly BC, Valbuena G, Thangamani S.

PLoS One. 2016 May 20;11(5):e0155889. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155889. eCollection 2016.

PMID: 27203436 

Detection of Rickettsia amblyommii in ticks collected from Missouri, USA. 

Hermance M, Dos Santos RI, Heinze D, Hausser N, Bouyer DH, Thangamani S.

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2014 May;3(5):e34. doi: 10.1038/emi.2014.31. Epub 2014 May 21.

PMID: 26038740  No abstract available.

Tick Saliva Enhances Powassan Virus Transmission to the Host, Influencing Its Dissemination and the Course of Disease. 

Hermance ME, Thangamani S.

J Virol. 2015 Aug;89(15):7852-60. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01056-15. Epub 2015 May 20.

PMID: 25995246 

Discovery of mosquito saliva microRNAs during CHIKV infection. 

Maharaj PD, Widen SG, Huang J, Wood TG, Thangamani S.

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Jan 22;9(1):e0003386. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003386. eCollection 2015 Jan.

PMID: 25612225 

Insect-specific viruses detected in laboratory mosquito colonies and their potential implications for experiments evaluating arbovirus vector competence. 

Bolling BG, Vasilakis N, Guzman H, Widen SG, Wood TG, Popov VL, Thangamani S, Tesh RB.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Feb;92(2):422-8. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0330. Epub 2014 Dec 15.

PMID: 25510714 

Murine cutaneous responses to the rocky mountain spotted fever vector, Dermacentor andersoni, feeding. 

Heinze DM, Carmical JR, Aronson JF, Alarcon-Chaidez F, Wikel S, Thangamani S.

Front Microbiol. 2014 May 7;5:198. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00198. eCollection 2014.

PMID: 24847317 

Establishing protocols for tick containment at Biosafety Level 4. 

Thangamani S, Bente D.

Pathog Dis. 2014 Jul;71(2):282-5. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12187. Epub 2014 Jul 2.

PMID: 24838773 

Proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines at the skin interface during Powassan virus transmission. 

Hermance ME, Thangamani S.

J Invest Dermatol. 2014 Aug;134(8):2280-2283. doi: 10.1038/jid.2014.150. Epub 2014 Mar 21.

PMID: 24658509  No abstract available.

Influence of laboratory animal hosts on the life cycle of Hyalomma marginatum and implications for an in vivo transmission model for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. 

Gargili A, Thangamani S, Bente D.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2013 Aug 20;3:39. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2013.00039. eCollection 2013.

PMID: 23971007 

Early immunologic events at the tick-host interface. 

Heinze DM, Carmical JR, Aronson JF, Thangamani S.

PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47301. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047301. Epub 2012 Oct 15.

PMID: 23077588 

Transcriptional profiling of the murine cutaneous response during initial and subsequent infestations with Ixodes scapularis nymphs. 

Heinze DM, Wikel SK, Thangamani S, Alarcon-Chaidez FJ.

Parasit Vectors. 2012 Feb 6;5:26. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-26.

PMID: 22309607 

Experimental transmission of Mayaro virus by Aedes aegypti. 

Long KC, Ziegler SA, Thangamani S, Hausser NL, Kochel TJ, Higgs S, Tesh RB.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 Oct;85(4):750-7. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.11-0359.

PMID: 21976583 

Structural basis for dual-inhibition mechanism of a non-classical Kazal-type serine protease inhibitor from horseshoe crab in complex with subtilisin. 

Shenoy RT, Thangamani S, Velazquez-Campoy A, Ho B, Ding JL, Sivaraman J.

PLoS One. 2011 Apr 26;6(4):e18838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018838.

PMID: 21541315 

Modifying the substrate specificity of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda serine protease inhibitor domain 1 to target thrombin. 

Giri PK, Tang X, Thangamani S, Shenoy RT, Ding JL, Swaminathan K, Sivaraman J.

PLoS One. 2010 Dec 20;5(12):e15258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015258.

PMID: 21188150 

Host immune response to mosquito-transmitted chikungunya virus differs from that elicited by needle inoculated virus. 

Thangamani S, Higgs S, Ziegler S, Vanlandingham D, Tesh R, Wikel S.

PLoS One. 2010 Aug 12;5(8):e12137. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012137.

PMID: 20711354 

Blood feeding by the Rocky Mountain spotted fever vector, Dermacentor andersoni, induces interleukin-4 expression by cognate antigen responding CD4+ T cells. 

Boppana VD, Thangamani S, Alarcon-Chaidez FJ, Adler AJ, Wikel SK.

Parasit Vectors. 2009 Oct 8;2(1):47. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-2-47.

PMID: 19814808 

Differential expression of Aedes aegypti salivary transcriptome upon blood feeding. 

Thangamani S, Wikel SK.

Parasit Vectors. 2009 Jul 24;2(1):34. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-2-34.

PMID: 19630962 

Crystallization of a nonclassical Kazal-type Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda serine protease inhibitor, CrSPI-1, complexed with subtilisin. 

Tulsidas SR, Thangamani S, Ho B, Sivaraman J, Ding JL.

Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun. 2009 May 1;65(Pt 5):533-5. doi: 10.1107/S1744309109014420. Epub 2009 Apr 28.

PMID: 19407396 

The ancient origin of the complement system. 

Zhu Y, Thangamani S, Ho B, Ding JL.

EMBO J. 2005 Jan 26;24(2):382-94. doi: 10.1038/sj.emboj.7600533. Epub 2004 Dec 23.

PMID: 15616573 

Molecular cloning, structure and bait region splice variants of alpha2-macroglobulin from the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata. 

Saravanan T, Weise C, Sojka D, Kopácek P.

Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2003 Aug;33(8):841-51. doi: 10.1016/s0965-1748(03)00083-3.

PMID: 12878230