Inflammatory responses in the skin to mosquito-borne virus infection and their relevance to disease
Innate immune responses are crucial for effective anti-viral defences, yet the tissue-specific basis by which they are coordinated in vivo and their modulation by confounding environmental variables remains poorly defined. This particularly applies following infection by mosquito-borne viruses, a diverse grouping of pathogens that constitute an increasing global threat to human health. An important stage, common to all such infections, is the inoculation of virus at mosquito bites. We have recently identified key aspects of mosquito-bite inflammation that are important determinants of the subsequent systemic course and clinical outcome of infection. We aim to define;
- the relationship between activation of skin immune pathways and the severity of subsequent systemic infection
- how key environmental variables, such as sun exposure, modulate these host responses
- how therapeutic modulation of these pathways can alter the clinical outcome to infection
As such, our work aims to characterize an important and common aspect of many mosquito-borne virus infections and enable the development of novel, broadly applicable strategies for reducing the burden of disease.
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