Progress 02/15/16 to 02/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to visit cattle farms and slaughterhouses. The purpose of the visit was to understand current farming formats for beef and dairy cattle, and also to establish collaboration with cattle industry to investigate the situation of Ostertagi infection in cattle and host mucosal immune response to this parasite. The audience is mostly white with a few blacks. We explain why we do this type of research, such as the problems we are facing in cattle industry, the type of tissues we will harvest from their cattle in the slaughterhouse, the experiments to use these tissues for, and expected results with the hope to develop a strategy to control parasite infection on grass-fed cattle with vaccination in the future. In addition, we have received more than 20 visitors from high schools in Maryland, freshman undergraduate students (animal science major), international scholars in this year. These visitors include a representative mixture of white, black, Latino and Asian. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As described above in the target audience, we have drawn a lot of interest from the visitors from high school and undergraduates. Actually, some of them expressed strong interest to get involved in this project. We have trained one graduate student (for PhD) on this project, who joined us in the fall of 2019. Therefore, support from this grant is helping the career development of the next generation of workers for agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, we have delivered the data/knowledge in the following methods: A.Published in a peer-reviewed Journal. B.Invited talks/lectures. C.Presented data in CRWAD in Chicago in early November 2019. D.Educated volunteers/graduate student/undergraduate students/high school students in the lab. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have finished all the objectives. In the meanwhile, we will submit at least two more manuscripts for publication late this year. In addition, we will continue to define the molecular mechanisms of neutrophils, on the differentiation of naïve bovine CD4+ T cells, and the activation of bovine CD8+ T cells.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Significance and need for research: Infections by gastrointestinal (GI) nematode parasites can cause significant production losses, and are estimated to increase operating costs to cattle producers by more than $2 billion per year in the United States. Ostertagiasis, caused by O. ostertagi, is the most important GI nematode parasite infection of cattle in temperate climates and accounts for a major portion of the economic loss. Treatments are currently limited to anthelmintics; however, anthelmintic drug resistance in cattle parasites is on the rise both in the US and across the globe. Prevailing farming practices including overuse and misuse of drugs coupled with a surge in intensified farming and sustainable/organic production systems have only exacerbated this problem. Currently, there is no vaccine for bovine ostertagiasis. Experimental vaccines have been attempted in a handful of studies, but efficacy has been limited. The difficulties in developing a reliable vaccine against ostertagiasis reflect the highly complex nature of the organism as well as a lack of understanding of the interplay between the parasite and its host at the molecular and immunologic levels. Objective 1: Define the nodular B cell population inO. ostertagia-infected cattle. Completed. Objective 2: Examine the regulatory interactions of these nodular B cells with naive T cells. Completed. Objective 3: Identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for the recruitment of these nodular B cells. About 50% finished, and the rest is ongoing. When defining the interactions between immune cells, we identified IL-10-producing B regulatory cells in O. ostertagi (OO)-infected beef cattle, which constituted only 1% of total B cells in the secondary lymphoid tissues and were virtually undetectable in the blood. However, the majority of IL-10-producing cells were neutrophils. Co-culture of untreated neutrophils with anti-CD3 antibody (Ab)-stimulated CD4+ T cells led to enhanced T cell activation; also, IL-10 depletion with neutralizing Ab enhanced the stimulatory function of neutrophils. In addition, OO extract depressed neutrophil stimulation of CD4+ T cells in the presence of IL-10-neutralizing Ab, suggesting that OO utilizes both IL-10-dependent and independent mechanisms to manipulate the bovine immune response. Therefore, the immune regulatory function of O. ostertagi may be related to multiple immune cells, including regulatory B cells and neutrophils.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Li, L., Si, H., Wu, S., Mendez, J., Zarlenga, D., Tuo, W., and Xiao, Z. (2019). Characterization of IL-10-producing neutrophils in cattle infected with Ostertagia ostertagi. Scientific Reports 9, 20292.
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Progress 02/15/18 to 02/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to visit cattle farms and slaughterhouses. The purpose of the visit was to understand current farming formats for beef and dairy cattle, and also to establish collaboration with cattle industry to investigate the situation of Ostertagi infection in cattle and host mucosal immune response to this parasite. The audience is mostly white with a few blacks. We explain why we do this type of research, such as the problems we are facing in cattle industry, the type of tissues we will harvest from their cattle in the slaughterhouse, the experiments to use these tissues for, and expected results with the hope to develop a strategy to control parasite infection on grass-fed cattle with vaccination in the future. In addition, we have received more than 30 visitors from high schools in Maryland, freshman undergraduate students (animal science major), international scholars in this year. These visitors include a representative mixture of white, black, Latino and Asian. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As described above in the target audience, we have drawn a lot of interest from the visitors from high school and undergraduates. Actually, several of them expressed strong interest to get involved in this project. We have trained one graduate student on this project, who just finished in the spring with a master degree. Therefore, support from this grant is helping the career development of the next generation of workers for agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, we have delivered the our data/knowledge in the following methods: Published in a peer-reviewed Journal. Invited talks/lectures. Presented data in CRWAD in Chicago in early December 2018. Educatedvolunteers/graduate student/undergraduate students/high school students in the lab. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will confirm and finish up objective 3. In the meanwhile, we will submit at least one manuscript for publication. In addition, we will continue to define the regulatory function of regulatory B cells and neutrophils, on naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Significance and need for research: Infections by gastrointestinal (GI) nematode parasites can cause significant production losses, and are estimated to increase operating costs to cattle producers by more than $2 billion per year in the United States. Ostertagiasis, caused by O. ostertagi, is the most important GI nematode parasite infection of cattle in temperate climates and accounts for a major portion of the economic loss. Treatments are currently limited to anthelmintics; however, anthelmintic drug resistance in cattle parasites is on the rise both in the US and across the globe. Prevailing farming practices including overuse and misuse of drugs coupled with a surge in intensified farming and sustainable/organic production systems have only exacerbated this problem. Currently, there is no vaccine for bovine ostertagiasis. Experimental vaccines have been attempted in a handful of studies, but efficacy has been limited. The difficulties in developing a reliable vaccine against ostertagiasis reflect the highly complex nature of the organism as well as a lack of understanding of the interplay between the parasite and its host at the molecular and immunologic levels. Objective 1: Define the nodular B cell population inO. ostertagia-infected cattle. Completed. Objective 2: Examine the regulatory interactions of these nodular B cells with naive T cells. Completed. Objective 3: Identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for the recruitment of these nodular B cells. About 50% finished, and the rest is ongoing. When defining the interactions between immune cells, we also found that neutrophils were able to enhance T cell activation. In addition, O. ostertagi (OO) soluble extracts were able to increase IL-10 expression in neutrophils. More interestingly, we found this OO extract can induce typical neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). It seems to us that immune regulatory function of O. ostertagi may be related to multiple immune cells, including regulatory B cells and neutrophils.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Mendez J., Sun D., Tuo W. and Xiao, Z. (2018). ⿿Bovine neutrophils form extracellular traps in response to the gastrointestinal parasite Ostertagia ostertagi. Scientific reports. 2018;8:17598.
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Progress 02/15/17 to 02/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to visit private beef cattle farms (both organic and regular), and two research farms of University of Maryland: Wye Angus farm in Queenstown, and the dairy farm in Clarksville, and a few slaughterhouses. The purpose of the visit was to understand current farming formats for beef and dairy cattle, and also to establish collaboration with cattle industry to investigate the situation of Ostertagi infection in cattle and host mucosal immune response to this parasite. The audience is mostly white with a few blacks. We explain why we do this type of research, such as the problems we are facing in cattle industry, the type of tissues we will harvest from their cattle in the slaughterhouse, the experiments to use these tissues for, and expected results with the hope to develop a strategy to control parasite infection on grass-fed cattle with vaccination in the future. In addition, we have received more than 80 visitors from high schools in Maryland, 4-H training program in UMD, and freshman undergraduate students (animal science major) in last year. These visitors include a representative mixture of white, black, Latino and Asian. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As described above in the target audience, we have drawn a lot of interest from the visitors from high schools, undergraduates and 4-H program (UMD). Actually several of them expressed strong interest to get involved in this project. We took one high school student for internship last summer. In addition, we have recruited one graduate student and one undergraduate student to work on this project. Therefore, support from this grant is helping the career development of the next generation of workers for agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have delivered our data/knowledge in the following methods: Published in a peer-reviewed Journal. Invited talks/lectures. Presented in NIFA PD workshop in Chicago in early December. Educating volunteers/graduate student/undergraduate students/high school students in the lab. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will repeat the same experiment on more cattle, both grass-fed and grain-fed, to confirm our current data on regulatory B cells. In addition, we will continue to define the regulatory function of regulatory B cells, together with other immune cells, on naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Significance and need for research: Infections by gastrointestinal (GI) nematode parasites can cause significant production losses, and are estimated to increase operating costs to cattle producers by more than $2 billion per year in the United States. Ostertagiasis, caused by O. ostertagi, is the most important GI nematode parasite infection of cattle in temperate climates and accounts for a major portion of the economic loss. Treatments are currently limited to anthelmintics; however, anthelmintic drug resistance in cattle parasites is on the rise both in the US and across the globe. Prevailing farming practices including overuse and misuse of drugs coupled with a surge in intensified farming and sustainable/organic production systems have only exacerbated this problem. Currently, there is no vaccine for bovine ostertagiasis. Experimental vaccines have been attempted in a handful of studies, but efficacy has been limited. The difficulties in developing a reliable vaccine against ostertagiasis reflect the highly complex nature of the organism as well as a lack of understanding of the interplay between the parasite and its host at the molecular and immunologic levels. We have defined the regulatory B cell population inO. ostertagia-infected cattle, as stated in the objective 1. There is an increased B cell accumulation in the stomach-draining lymph node in parasite-infected cattle, compared to non-infected feedlot raised cattle. As predicted in the original proposal, we found some B cells are interleukin-10-producing, with increased expression of CD25, which are features of regulatory B cells (Breg). This Breg population is absent/negligible in grain-fed cattle, suggesting this special type of B cells could be a negative immune regulator utilized by O. ostertagia.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Li, L., Jay, S.M., Wang, Y., Wu, S.W., and Xiao, Z. (2017). IL-12 stimulates CTLs to secrete exosomes capable of activating bystander CD8+ T cells. Scientific reports 7, 13365.
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Progress 02/15/16 to 02/14/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We have visited four private beef cattle farms (both organic and regular), and two research farms of University of Maryland: Wye Angus farm in Queenstown, and the dairy farm in Clarksville. The purpose of the visiting was to understand current farming formats for beef and dairy cattle, and also to establish collaboration with cattle industry to investigate the situation of Ostertagi infection in cattle and host mucosal immune response to this parasite in cattle. The audience is mostly white with a few blacks. We explain why we do this type of research, such as the problems we are facing in cattle industry, the type of tissues we will harvest from their cattle, the experiments to use these tissues, and expecting results with the hope to develop a strategy to control parasite infection on grass-fed cattle with vaccination. In addition, we have received more than 60 visitors from high schools in Maryland, 4-H training program in UMD, and freshman undergraduate students (animal science major) in last year. These visitors include a representative mixture of white, black, Latino and Asian. In addition, I was invited to give 5 talks in China last December, in 4 different research institutes, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute (Shanghai, China), Nanjing Agricultural University (Nanjing, China), Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Nanjing, China), and Nanjing entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau (Nanjing, China). Our research supported by this grant has drawn a lot of attention from audience in these seminars, and potential international collaborations are currently under development. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As described above in the target audience, we have drawn a lot of interest from the visitors from high schools, undergraduates and 4-H program (UMD). Actually several of them expressed strong interest to get involved in this project. We took one high school student (Mindy Burton) for internship for this coming summer. In addition, we have recruited one graduate student, Jonatan Mendez, to work on this project. Therefore, support from this grant is helping the career development of the next generation of workers for agriculture. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, we have delivered the our data/knowledge in the following methods: Published in a peer-reviewed Journal. Invited international talks. Presented in USDA workshop in Chicago in early December. Educating volunteers/graduate student/undergraduate students/high school students in the lab. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to define the regulatory function of B cells, together with other immune cells, on naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Significance and need for research: Infections by gastrointestinal (GI) nematode parasites can cause significant production losses, and are estimated to increase operating costs to cattle producers by more than $2 billion per year in the United States. Ostertagiasis, caused by O. ostertagi, is the most important GI nematode parasite infection of cattle in temperate climates and accounts for a major portion of the economic loss. Treatments are currently limited to anthelmintics; however, anthelmintic drug resistance in cattle parasites is on the rise both in the US and across the globe. Prevailing farming practices including overuse and misuse of drugs coupled with a surge in intensified farming and sustainable/organic production systems have only exacerbated this problem. Currently, there is no vaccine for bovine ostertagiasis. Experimental vaccines have been attempted in a handful of studies, but efficacy has been limited. The difficulties in developing a reliable vaccine against ostertagiasis reflect the highly complex nature of the organism as well as a lack of understanding of the interplay between the parasite and its host at the molecular and immunologic levels. We have started to define the nodular B cell population inO. ostertagia-infected cattle, as stated in the objective 1. There is a dominant B cell migration to the nodule and stomach mucosa in grass-fed beef cattle, accompanied with parasite infection in the stomach gland. In addition, there is an increased B cell accumulation in the stomach-draining lymph node in parasite-infected cattle, compared to non-infected feedlot raised cattle. As predicted in the original proposal, we found some B cells are interleukin-10-producing, with increased expression of CD25, which are features of regulatory B cells.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Tuo, W., L. Li, Y. Lv, J. Carrillo, D. Brown, W. C. Davis, J. Song, D. Zarlenga, and Z. Xiao. 2016. Abomasal mucosal immune responses of cattle with limited or continuous exposure to pasture-borne gastrointestinal nematode parasite infection. Veterinary parasitology 229: 118-125.
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