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Funded by PRIN 2022 Prot. 2022PX9HTE
Partners: La Sapienza Università di Roma; Università di Messina; Università degli studi di Sassari
NEMEXIT aims to find alternative ways for the study and control of filarial zoonotic parasites of the genus Dirofilaria in humans and animals.
These worms are transmitted to dogs and cats by mosquitoes and are endemic in Italy and Europe. Filariae also afflict millions of people with chronic and debilitating diseases, due to their ability to survive for a long time within their hosts.
Filarial nematodes are among the severest Vector Borne Diseases included in the list of Neglected Tropical Diseases by WHO and the sole strategy to reduce the prevalence in dog population is the prophylaxis with antiparasitic drugs of the macrocyclic lactone class. This approach is losing its effectiveness given the drug resistance which also jeopardizes human treatments, so new perspectives should be explored in host-parasite interplay with the aim to elaborate new control strategies.
Within this scenario, NEMEXIT aims to explore for the first time if Dirofilaria spp. is able to produce Extracellular Vesicles as other zoonotic parasitic nematodes do.
Several parasites infact manipulate the host immune system with products that help them to evade the innate adaptive response.
Among these products, the Extracellular Vesicles are shifting the paradigm of inter-cellular communication and may play a crucial role in understanding the mechanisms underlying host-parasite interactions. They are nano-sized bodies, we should consider them as “small bubbles” produced by the parasite having immunomodulatory or pathogenic roles, that deliver direct messages to the host immune system. Their discovery is revolutionizing studies in the fields of medicine, pathology and oncology for the last decades but their application in parasitology is still in infancy. striking results are emerging, about the effects on inflammatory response, efficacy of drugs and potential protective role for infections.
NEMEXIT will aim to investigate the RNA-message, Dirofilaria nematodes deliver to hosts to silence the immune response and their potential role to “control” the parasitic burden in their hosts.
We will also investigate the effect of drugs on the Extracellular Vesicles production and their potential use for the formulation of a vaccine against Dirofilaria spp. Other studies have demonstrated that a preventive administration of Extracellular Vesicles derived from other parasitic worms might contribute to reduce the parasitic burden after a new infection.
Our project also merges with WHO RoadMap 2030 for NTDs goals, reducing illness, disability, and death related to NTDs with a multidisciplinary study in a One Health perspective.
Info and contacts:
Serena Cavallero – email: serena.cavallero@uniroma1.it