Advances in Immunology and Microbiology Seminar Series: Cameron Coyle

About the event

Featuring research in the areas of:

Epidemiology | Infectious Disease | Disease Ecology | Drug Discovery | Virology |

Global Health | Vector-Borne Disease | Pathology

The Advances in Immunology & Microbiology seminar series is a weekly forum that brings together scientists from diverse fields and disciplines across the College of Veterinary Medicine to discuss research advances in the broad areas of immunology, microbiology, infectious diseases, and global health. Seminars feature student speakers from the Immunology & Infectious Disease (IID) doctoral program, IID-affiliated postdoctoral researchers and faculty, intramural speakers from across the university, and extramural speakers.

Cameron Coyle, PhD candidate, Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, (Advisor: Dr. Dana Shaw)

“Tick trained immunity hinges upon activated hemocytes”

The black-legged deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, vectors at least seven pathogens of significant public health concern including the causative agents of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) and anaplasmosis (Anaplasma phagocytophilum). The tick immune system is a significant determinant in how ticks acquire, harbor, and transmit disease (“vector competency”). We have previously shown that antigenically priming ticks results in both short- and long-term protection against bacterial colonization. One possible mechanism mediating persistent protection is trained immunity, which describes enhanced innate immune responses and increased survival following previous antigenic challenges. Mounting evidence indicates that immunological memory conferred by innate immune processes exists in invertebrates, including ticks. Arthropod innate immunity can be subcategorized into humoral immunity and cellular immunity. Specialized phagocytic cells, termed “hemocytes”, are an integral component of arthropod immune responses. Here, we found that stimulating ticks with an infection-derived lipid activates humoral immunity.  However, repeat exposure shifts the response towards a cellular response by increasing expression and secretion of the adhesive immunogenic protein Hemocytin increasing the phagocytic index of tick hemocytes. These findings indicate that primary innate immune responses to pathogens are mediated by humoral immunity, while secondary responses are carried out through enhanced cellular immunity. Altogether, this suggests that trained immunity exists in ticks and hinges on antigen activation of hemocytes.

Upcoming Seminars

• October 16 – Dr. Phil Adams, Nat’l Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
• October 30 – Dr. Paul Rowley, Associate Professor, University of Idaho
• November 6 – Sudiksha Pandit, PhD candidate
• November 13 – Charles Ugwu, PhD candidate
• November 20 – Dr. Steven Edmonds, PhD candidate & Pathology Resident, AND Dr. Colleen Lynch, PhD Candidate & Pathology Resident
• December 4 – Brittany Genera, PhD candidate AND Dr. Hayley Masterson, PhD candidate & Pathology Resident