This application is on preventing Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), which kills thousands of people each year in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is caused by African trypanosomes transmitted by the tsetse fly. No mammalian vaccines, or effective and affordable therapeutic drugs exist. In contrast, reduction of tsetse populations can be highly efficacious for disease control although traditional strategies have been difficult to sustain because they require extensive community participation in deprived, remote and war-torn regions typically afflicted by this disease. Recombinant technologies now promise the development of novel approaches, including modification of the vector competence of the fly. This application proposes to investigate the fundamental aspects of tsetse immune biology as it relates to the pathogenic trypanosomes it transmits, and the obligate mutualist symbionts it relies on for fecundity. The application has two goals: (1) to investigate the molecular basis of tsetse's refractoriness to trypanosome transmission with a focus on the role of pathogen recognition molecules, and (2) to understand the responses and the evolutionary dynamics of tsetse's immune reactions that regulate symbiotic homeostasis and vector competence. Identification of host immune proteins that result in parasite resistance can strengthen efforts that can reduce tsetse's vector competence via genetic modification. Understanding the mechanism of tolerance to symbiotic fauna may result in novel vector control strategies that aim to reduce tsetse's fecundity.
This grant will investigate the molecular and biochemical mechanisms in the insect tsetse fly that enable the transmission of the parasite African trypanosome, the causative agents of Sleeping Sickness disease in humans. The ultimate goal is to be able to interfere with parasite transmission in the fly.
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