Message in a vesicle – trans-kingdom intercommunication at the vector–host interface

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases cause over 700,000 deaths annually and represent 17% of all infectious illnesses worldwide. This public health menace highlights the importance of understanding how arthropod vectors, microbes and their mammalian hosts interact. Currently, an emphasis of the scientific enterprise is at the vector-host interface where human pathogens are acquired and transmitted. At this spatial junction, arthropod effector molecules are secreted, enabling microbial pathogenesis and disease. Extracellular vesicles manipulate signaling networks by carrying proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and regulatory nucleic acids. Therefore, they are well positioned to aid in cell-to-cell communication and mediate molecular interactions. This Review briefly discusses exosome and microvesicle biogenesis, their cargo, and the role that nanovesicles play during pathogen spread, host colonization and disease pathogenesis. We then focus on the role of extracellular vesicles in dictating microbial pathogenesis and host immunity during transmission of vector-borne pathogens.

Participation of Extracellular Vesicles from Zika-Virus-Infected Mosquito Cells in the Modification of Naïve Cells’ Behavior by Mediating Cell-to-Cell Transmission of Viral Elements

“…The molecular and cellular events occurring in vector-pathogen-host interactions are critical in determining the outcome of the vector-borne diseases. Recently, it was proposed that one strategy used by vectors, to promote a successful host infection, is the manipulation of EVs [41,57]. Infected vector cells secrete vesicles that may contain antigens, nucleic acids, and microbial cargos (or the whole pathogen), which exacerbate the pathogenesis and modulate the host responses [36].…”

“…Since the optimal cell infections (activation) were obtained in these conditions (MOI 1, 48 h PI), they were used for all subsequent infection experiments. Recently, it was shown that, during the virus infection process, infected cells are activated and produce different subtypes of EVs, which may have different functions when interacting with other cells, modifying naïve cellular behavior [41]. Therefore, we evaluated whether ZIKV-infected C6/36 mosquito cells could release large and/or small EVs.…”

Quantitative Visions of Reality at the Tick-Host Interface: Biochemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, and Transcriptomics as Measures of Complete Inventories of the Tick Sialoverse

“…As such, exosomes that carry microRNAs has been described in the saliva of ticks (Hackenberg et al, 2017 ). It has been proposed that these exomes may deliver microRNAs to immune cells to down-regulate immune modulatory pathways (Hackenberg and Kotsyfakis, 2018 ; Bensaoud et al, 2019b ; Chávez et al, 2019 ). This will add another layer of complexity to salivary glands of which the magnitude is difficult to estimate.…”

TickSialoFam (TSFam): A Database That Helps to Classify Tick Salivary Proteins, a Review on Tick Salivary Protein Function and Evolution, With Considerations on the Tick Sialome Switching Phenomenon

“…Hard tick salivary glands suffer a degeneration process after a blood meal (Harris and Kaufman, 1981 ; Friesen and Kaufman, 2009 ), and it is possible that this process starts while the tick is still feeding and thus generating a holocrine salivary secretion. Additionally, there is recent evidence that exosomes may be secreted in tick saliva (Hackenberg and Kotsyfakis, 2018 ; Zhou et al, 2018 ; Chavez et al, 2019 ). Exosomes can fuse with host cells and deliver their products intracellularly, including microRNAs that may inhibit translation of some protein types (Keller et al, 2006 ).…”