Descripción del proyecto
Organización de un banquete de mosquitos
Según la Organización Mundial de la Salud, los mosquitos figuran entre las criaturas de la naturaleza más mortales. Propagan enfermedades que acaban con la vida de millones de personas cada año. Aunque llegar a conocer el comportamiento alimentario de los mosquitos puede parecer relativamente sencillo, de hecho, ha resultado ser bastante difícil en gran parte debido a que se carece de la tecnología adecuada. Sin embargo, todo esto está cambiando gracias a una piel humana artificial transparente, que se observa a través de imagenología cuantitatiava sofisticada y visión artificial. El proyecto PiQiMosqBite prevé poner el anzuelo, invitando a los mosquitos a cenar sobre la piel biomimética y la vasculatura. La imagenología de alta tecnología permitirá que los científicos evalúen cómo los mosquitos infectados se comportan, procesan las señales sensoriales e inyectan saliva con el fin de obtener claves para prevenir la propagación de enfermedades.
Objetivo
Mosquitoes serve as vectors for diseases including dengue and malaria, for which half the world's population is at risk. Mosquito-borne pathogens are transmitted during blood feeding, yet despite its crucial role in pathogen transmission, blood feeding behavior remains ill understood. The sensory integration of physical and chemical cues on the skin and below its surface, and the effect of pathogen infection on blood feeding are poorly characterized. These knowledge gaps are due to a lack of tools to quantitatively study blood feeding behavior. To overcome these limitations, I propose an innovative approach to study blood feeding by leveraging quantitative imaging, computer vision, and an engineered human skin mimic to create a high-throughput behavioral assay. Imaging mosquitoes feeding on a transparent skin mimic will enable the detailed characterization of the behavioral trajectory leading to blood feeding while simultaneously allowing the analysis of biting dynamics by imaging the expectoration of saliva. To unravel the behavioral effects of pathogen infection, I will compare blood feeding by non-infected Aedes aegypti (the main dengue vector) and Anopheles gambiae (an important malaria vector) with their dengue virus and Plasmodium falciparum infected counterparts. Next, I will use microfabricaton to embed artificial vasculature in the skin mimic to dissect the sensory cue integration underlying blood feeding. I will characterize the biting dynamics of mutant Aedes aegypti deficient in various sensory pathways feeding on skin mimics that present a defined set of cues. By combining my skills in biophysics with the host labs expertise in mosquito-pathogen interactions, this project will provide a deep understanding of the neurobiology underlying blood feeding by mosquitoes, and the effect that pathogen infections may have on this behavior. Elucidating the transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens will provide valuable insights to combat mosquito-borne diseases.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA viruses
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesmalaria
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencecomputer vision
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
75724 Paris
Francia