Research publications

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TICK-VIRUS-HOST INTERACTIONS/INTERFACE/DETERMINANTS DURING ARBOVIRAL TRANSMISSION 

1. 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 
2. 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 
3. Development of a Small Animal Model for Deer Tick Virus Pathogenesis Mimicking Human Clinical Outcome. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Jun 15;14(6):e0008359. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008359.
4. Utilization of RNA in situ Hybridization to Understand the Cellular Localization of Powassan Virus RNA at the Tick-Virus-Host Interface. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Apr 28;10:172. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00172
5. Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Infection Alters the Sialome of Ixodes ricinus Ticks During the Earliest Stages of Feeding. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020 Feb 18;10:41. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00041.
6. Ixodes scapularis salivary gland microRNAs are differentially expressed during Powassan virus transmission. Nature Sci Rep. Hermance et al., 2019.
7. Tick-Virus-Host Interactions at the Cutaneous Interface: The Nidus of Flavivirus Transmission. Viruses. Hermance et al 2018.
8. Generation of a Lineage II Powassan Virus (Deer Tick Virus) cDNA Clone: Assessment of Flaviviral Genetic Determinants of Tick and Mosquito Vector Competence. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. Kenney et al 2018. 
9. Powassan virus: An emerging arbovirus of public health concern in North America. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. Hermance and Thangamani 2017.
10. Transcriptional Immunoprofiling at the Tick-Virus-Host Interface during Early Stages of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Transmission. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. Thangamani et al 2017.
11. Tick-borne viruses and biological processes at the tick-host-virus interface. Frontiers in Microbiology. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. Kazimirova et al 2017. 
12. Concurrent micro-RNA mediated silencing of tick-borne flavivirus replication in tick vector and in the brain of vertebrate host. Sci Rep. Tsetsarkin et al 2016.
13. Immune Cell Targets of Infection at the Tick-Skin Interface during Powassan Virus Transmission. PLoS One. Hermance et al 2016. 
14. Ixodes scapularis saliva enhances Powassan virus transmission to the host, influencing its dissemination and the course of disease. Journal of Virology. Hermance and Thangamani 2016.
15. Proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines at the skin interface during Powassan virus transmission. J Invest Dermatol. Hermance and Thangamani 2017.
16. Host immune response to Dermacentor andersonii feeding. Front Microbiol. Heinze et al 2014.
17. Early immunologic events at the tick-host interface. PLoS One. Heinze et al 2012.
18. Transcriptional profiling of the murine cutaneous response during initial and subsequent infestations with Ixodes scapularis nymphs. Heinze et al 2011. 
19. Blood feeding by the Rocky Mountain spotted fever vector, Dermacentor andersoni, induces interleukin-4 expression by cognate antigen responding CD4+T cells. Parasites & Vectors Thangamani & Boppan a et al 2009.
20. Differential expression of the salivary transcriptome of Aedes aegypti upon blood feeding. Parasites & Vectors. Thangamani and Wikel, 2009.
21. SAAG-4 is a Novel Mosquito Salivary Protein that Programs Host CD4+ T Cells to Express IL-4. Parasite Immunol. Thangamani & Boppana et al 2009. 

MOSQUITO-VIRUS-HOST INTERACTIONS/INTERFACE/DETERMINANTS DURING ARBOVIRAL TRANSMISSION

1. The human CD47 checkpoint is targeted by an immunosuppressive Aedes aegypti salivary factor to enhance arboviral skin infectivity. Marin-Lopez A, Huck JD, Esterly AT, Azcutia V, Rosen C, Garcia-Milian R, Sefik E, Vidal-Pedrola G, Raduwan H, Chen TY, Arora G, Halene S, Shaw AC, Palm NW, Flavell RA, Parkos CA, Thangamani S, Ring AM, Fikrig E. . Sci Immunol. 2024 Aug 9;9(98):eadk9872. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adk9872. Epub 2024 Aug 9. PMID: 39121194
2. 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)Measuring Alphavirus Fidelity Using Non-Infectious Virus Particles. Viruses. 2020 May 15;12(5):E546. doi: 10.3390/v12050546.
3. Viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase mutants display an altered mutation spectrum resulting in attenuation in both mosquito and vertebrate hosts. PLoS Pathog. Warmbrod et al 2019.
4. Zika virus alters the microRNA expression profile and elicits an RNAi response in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. Saldaña 2017
5. Discovery of mosquito saliva microRNAs during CHIKV infection. Maharaj et al 2015. 
6. Host immune response to mosquito-transmitted chikungunya virus differs from that elicited by needle inoculated virus. PLoS ONE. Thangamani et al 2015. 

BIOLOGY OF DISEASE TRANSMISSION 

1. Comparative Pathogenesis of Two Lineages of Powassan Virus Reveals Distinct Clinical Outcome, Neuropathology, and Inflammation. Reynolds, E.S.; Hart, C.E.; Nelson, J.T.; Marzullo, B.J.; Esterly, A.T.; Paine, D.N.; Crooker, J.; Massa, P.T.; Thangamani, S. Viruses 2024, 16, 820. https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060820
2. Heartland virus infection in hamsters deficient in type I interferon signaling: protracted disease course ameliorated by favipiravir. Virology. Westover et al 2017.
3. An Overview of Animal Models for Arthropod-Borne Viruses. Comp Med. Reynolds et al 2017. 
4. Spinal Cord Ventral Horns and Lymphoid Organ Involvement in Powassan Virus Infection in a Mouse Model. Viruses. Santis et ak, 2016. 

VECTOR COMPETENCY / CAPACITY TO TRANSMIT ARBOVIRUSES 

1. 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 
2. Insect-specific viruses detected in laboratory mosquito colonies: Implications for evaluating vector competence experiments. Am J Trop Med Hyg. Bolling et al 2015. 
3. Establishing Protocols for tick containment at Biosafety level 4. Pathog Dis. Thangamani and Bente, 2014. 
4. Experimental transmission of Mayaro virus by Aedes aegypti. Am J Trop Med Hyg. Long et al 2011. 
5. 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. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. Gargili et al. 
6. Vertical transmission of Zika virus in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Am J Trop Med Hyg. Thangamani et al 2016.
7. Experimental infection with and maintenance of cell fusing agent virus in Aedes aegypti. AJTMH. Contreras et al 2017.
8. Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes taeniorhynchus from the Gulf Coast are Refractory to Zika Virus Infection. Emerg Infect Dis. Hart et al, 2017.

ECOLOGY OF TICK AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES 

1. 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 
2. 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 
3. Detection of Rickettsiae, Borreliae, and Ehrlichiae in Ticks Collected from Walker County, Texas, 2017-2018. Insects. Mendell et al, 2019.
4. Meeting the challenge of tick-borne disease control: A proposal for 1000 Ixodes genomes. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. Murgia et al 2019.