Maxine Smith is a PhD student at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine(AITHM) Cairns, working under the supervision of Dr Roland Ruscher. Her research focus is assessing helminth-derived proteins as a novel and safe therapeutic for pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.
“A potential helminth-derived therapeutic for early life inflammatory bowel disease”
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are chronic inflammatory disorders, have no cure, and affect millions worldwide. Pediatric IBD often presents as a more aggressive disease than IBD in adults, contributing to 25% of the overall IBD cases. These heterogeneous diseases are prevalent in Westernised countries, where the widespread use of antibiotics and excessive sanitation have reduced exposure to many beneficial organisms. Research has indicated that external stimuli from essential co-evolutionary commensal microorganisms may play a vital role in regulating the immune system. One of particular interest is the gastrointestinal helminth, including hookworms, secrete a plethora of bioactive molecules with immunomodulatory properties, some of which have anti-inflammatory capacities. We have expressed individual hookworm-derived proteins to identify potential therapeutic properties during chronic inflammatory conditions. One recombinant protein of particular interest effectively reduced disease severity and alleviated inflammation induced by experimental colitis in mice prior to sexual maturity. We now seek to further validate the mechanism of action of the hookworm-derived protein by investigating binding strategies, intestinal barrier integrity and effects on intestinal immune cells. Ultimately, we aim to identify a novel and safe therapeutic to alleviate chronic inflammatory responses during pediatric IBD.
Lucas Huggins is a Postdoctoral Fellow specialising in molecular techniques within the Translational Research in Parasitology Group at the University of Melbourne Veterinary School. His current research focus is on the development of portable pan-pathogen molecular tools for companion animals with the overarching aim of safeguarding Australia against vector-borne disease bioincursions. His previous experience has been centred on exploring vector-borne pathogen diversity of stray dogs in Southeast Asia, whilst also investigating chemopreventive methods to protect them. This work has led to numerous intervention studies testing the efficacy of different ectoparasiticides for protecting Cambodian mine detection dogs from contracting vector-borne pathogen infections.
“Advanced diagnostic tools for the detection of vector-borne pathogens – from development to deployment”
Vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) generate significant morbidity and mortality in humans and other animals, particularly in many low to lower-middle income countries across the globe. Diagnosis of VBP infections can be challenging due to intermittent parasitaemia, frequent coinfections and the wide range of emerging, and novel VBP species encounterable. Hence, there is a critical need for refined diagnostic tools that are both sensitive and capable of detecting all VBP from a group of interest simultaneously. I will demonstrate how recent advances in nanopore sequencing technology have permitted our development of novel metabarcoding methods that can accurately characterise all bacterial, apicomplexan and filarial worm pathogens from blood and other sample types. Nanopore technology can sequence long-reads that can better classify pathogens to a species-level in a manner previously unachievable using short-read technologies. Moreover, nanopore sequencing devices such as the MinIONTM are inexpensive, small and portable, even permitting the diagnosis of VBP from the field. The suite of nanopore-based diagnostic tools our laboratory has developed has transformed our ability to conduct investigations into the diversity and prevalence of VBPs in arthropod vectors and mammalian host species, including humans. We will discuss our rationale in advocating for the use of such techniques to better unpick pathogen transmission dynamics, elucidate cryptic diversity in parasite populations and unearth VBP disease risks for both animals and people.
discovery.
Our ASP Online Seminar Series image is created by Thorey Jonsdottir.
