Parasitic diseases impose a tremendous toll on the global public health. Malaria causes up to 1.24 million deaths every year, while human filariasis remains a major cause of disability in the developing world. We propose to focus on two of the most important causative agents of parasitic disease in the world, the apicomplexan blood parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and the filarial nematode Brugia malayi, which causes lymphatic filariasis. We hypothesize that genomic variation in natural parasite populations and measurable interactions between host, parasites, and the microbiome can be exploited to develop novel strategies for control, treatment, and prevention of malaria and filariasis. The recent emergence and possible spread of artemisinin-resistant falciparum malaria in Southeast Asia threatens to derail malaria elimination efforts, and extensive genetic variation in natural populations of P. falciparum poses a major obstacle to the development of highly efficacious malaria vaccines. To provide new tools for surveillance and containment of drugresistant malaria, we will investigate the genetic basis of reduced susceptibility of P. falciparum to artemisinin antimalarial drugs. We will also identify loci in host and parasite genomes associated with protective naturally acquired immunity to P. falciparum in an effort to establish immune correlates of protection that can inform vaccine development. The characterization of genetic variation in parasite populations at sites where a whole organism vaccine will be tested represents a needed step toward the development of a broadly efficacious malaria vaccine. A new third generation long read sequencing platform will be applied for the first time to sequence and assemble malaria genomes using isolates collected in separately funded field studies. For filariasis, doxycycline is a promising new treatment that can target the adult worms, but more treatment alternatives are needed. We will identify novel filarial drug targets using genome and transcriptome data and examine their functionality and essentiality with RNAi. Because malnutrition is often co-endemic with filariasis, we will also examine the metabolic, transcriptomic, and microbiome response of infected animals kept on micronutrient deficient diets. Genomics, epidemiology, and fundamental research will be integrated in all of these endeavors to improve our understanding of the determinants of disease outcomes and facilitate the development of new tools for the control and elimination of malaria and filariasis.

Public Health Relevance

The goal of the proposed work in this application is to advance the development of new tools for the treatment, control, and eradication of malaria and filariasis. To this end, we will use genomic technologies to examine key issues related to these diseases, namely drug resistance, vaccine escape, immune response, drug discovery, and nutrition.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Program--Cooperative Agreements (U19)
Project #
5U19AI110820-05
Application #
9461477
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1)
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2018-04-01
Budget End
2019-03-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland Baltimore
Department
Type
DUNS #
188435911
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21201
Robertson, Colin D; Hazen, Tracy H; Kaper, James B et al. (2018) Phosphotyrosine-Mediated Regulation of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Virulence. MBio 9:
Ndungo, Esther; Randall, Arlo; Hazen, Tracy H et al. (2018) A Novel Shigella Proteome Microarray Discriminates Targets of Human Antibody Reactivity following Oral Vaccination and Experimental Challenge. mSphere 3:
Hazen, Tracy H; Mettus, Roberta; McElheny, Christi L et al. (2018) Diversity among blaKPC-containing plasmids in Escherichia coli and other bacterial species isolated from the same patients. Sci Rep 8:10291
Chung, Matthew; Teigen, Laura; Liu, Hong et al. (2018) Targeted enrichment outperforms other enrichment techniques and enables more multi-species RNA-Seq analyses. Sci Rep 8:13377
Watkins, Tonya N; Gebremariam, Teclegiorgis; Swidergall, Marc et al. (2018) Inhibition of EGFR Signaling Protects from Mucormycosis. MBio 9:
Andrianaki, Angeliki M; Kyrmizi, Irene; Thanopoulou, Kalliopi et al. (2018) Iron restriction inside macrophages regulates pulmonary host defense against Rhizopus species. Nat Commun 9:3333
Hazen, Tracy H; Mettus, Roberta T; McElheny, Christi L et al. (2018) Draft Genome Sequences of blaKPC-Containing Enterobacter aerogenes, Citrobacter freundii, and Citrobacter koseri Strains. Genome Announc 6:
Broxton, Chynna N; He, Bixi; Bruno, Vincent M et al. (2018) A role for Candida albicans superoxide dismutase enzymes in glucose signaling. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 495:814-820
Higginson, Ellen E; Ramachandran, Girish; Hazen, Tracy H et al. (2018) Improving Our Understanding of Salmonella enterica Serovar Paratyphi B through the Engineering and Testing of a Live Attenuated Vaccine Strain. mSphere 3:
Richter, Taylor K S; Hazen, Tracy H; Lam, Diana et al. (2018) Temporal Variability of Escherichia coli Diversity in the Gastrointestinal Tracts of Tanzanian Children with and without Exposure to Antibiotics. mSphere 3:

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