Devil Facial Tumours: Towards a Vaccine

Owen, Rachel; Siddle, Hannah V.

doi:10.1080/08820139.2019.1624770

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…The release of captive-bred, immunised devils into local populations has been previously suggested to be a viable option in reducing DFTD spread [37]. Devils have been injected with sonicated DFTD cells with the aim to stimulate adaptive immunity as a potential vaccine [58], however, there is no evidence that attempted immunizations are prophylactic in the wild [59,60]. Furthermore, empirical and theoretical evidence suggest that vaccinations that do not prevent transmission and spread of disease (often referred to as leaky or imperfect vaccines) can create ecological and epidemiological conditions that would allow more virulent pathogen strains to emerge and persist [61,62].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disruption of Metapopulation Structure Reduces Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Spread at the Expense of Abundance and Genetic Diversity

et al. 2021

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Metapopulation structure plays a fundamental role in the persistence of wildlife populations. It can also drive the spread of infectious diseases and transmissible cancers such as the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). While disrupting this structure can reduce disease spread, it can also impair host resilience by disrupting gene flow and colonisation dynamics. Using an individual-based metapopulation model we investigated the synergistic effects of host dispersal, disease transmission rate and inter-individual contact distance for transmission, on the spread and persistence of DFTD from local to regional scales. Disease spread, and the ensuing population declines, are synergistically determined by individuals’ dispersal, disease transmission rate and within-population mixing. Transmission rates can be magnified by high dispersal and inter-individual transmission distance. The isolation of local populations effectively reduced metapopulation-level disease prevalence but caused severe declines in metapopulation size and genetic diversity. The relative position of managed (i.e., isolated) local populations had a significant effect on disease prevalence, highlighting the importance of considering metapopulation structure when implementing metapopulation-scale disease control measures. Our findings suggest that population isolation is not an ideal management method for preventing disease spread in species inhabiting already fragmented landscapes, where genetic diversity and extinction risk are already a concern.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disruption of Metapopulation Structure Reduces Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Spread at the Expense of Abundance and Genetic Diversity

et al. 2021

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“…DFT2 has 3,591 SNVs and 572 insertions/deletions, but only 19 non-synonymous mutations. Short peptides that contain the non-synonymous portion of the protein could be used as alternative targets to full-length recombinant proteins [51]. A recent discovery that aberrantly expressed proteins from non-coding regions can function as tumor-specific antigens [52] is another possibility worth exploring.…”

Section: Recombinant Protein-based Vaccinementioning

confidence: 99%

An oral bait vaccination approach for the Tasmanian devil facial tumor diseases

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et al. 2020

Expert Review of Vaccines

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Introduction: The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is the largest extant carnivorous marsupial. Since 1996, its population has declined by 77% primarily due to a clonal transmissible tumor, known as devil facial tumor (DFT1) disease. In 2014, a second transmissible devil facial tumor (DFT2) was discovered. DFT1 and DFT2 are nearly 100% fatal.Areas covered: We review DFT control approaches and propose a rabies-style oral bait vaccine (OBV) platform for DFTs. This approach has an extensive safety record and was a primary tool in large-scale rabies virus elimination from wild carnivores across diverse landscapes. Like rabies virus, DFTs are transmitted by oral contact, so immunizing the oral cavity and stimulating resident memory cells could be advantageous. Additionally, exposing infected devils that already have tumors to OBVs could serve as an oncolytic virus immunotherapy.The primary challenges may be identifying appropriate DFT-specific antigens and optimization of field delivery methods.Expert commentary: DFT2 is currently found on a peninsula in southern Tasmania, so an OBV that could eliminate DFT2 should be the priority for this vaccine approach. Translation of an OBV approach to control DFTs will be challenging, but the approach is feasible for combatting ongoing and future disease threats.

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“…In a first paper, Young Zen (2019) explores the generation of splicing variants of a serine protease homolog known to be important for tumor invasion in an invertebrate arthropod (the Crayfish, Procambarus clarkii). This is followed by two papers (Li et al, 2019;Owen and Siddle, 2019) concerning the interesting case of the Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) that plague the Tasmanian Devil, a mammalian species of Tasmania. This is a fatal monophyletic clonally transmissible cancer type that spreads between devils by biting during fights for mating.…”

Section: Introduction Jacques Robertmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the MHC class I deficiency interfering with anti-DFTD tumor CD8 T cell cytotoxicity, the possible role of antibodymediated phagocytosis is a potentially relevant mechanism to explore. The second paper by Owen and Siddle (2019) is a comprehensive and timely review on the Devil facial tumors emphasizing the recent progress in anti-DFTP vaccine development. The review also provides an update of a second more recently discovered transmissible cancer in Tasmanian Devils (DFDT2).…”

Section: Introduction Jacques Robertmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction

Robert

2019

Immunological Investigations

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Devil Facial Tumours: Towards a Vaccine

Cited by 12 publications

References 82 publications

Disruption of Metapopulation Structure Reduces Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Spread at the Expense of Abundance and Genetic Diversity

Disruption of Metapopulation Structure Reduces Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease Spread at the Expense of Abundance and Genetic Diversity

An oral bait vaccination approach for the Tasmanian devil facial tumor diseases

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