Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: The origins and dispersal of ancient leishmaniasis in the New World: A bioarchaeological and molecular approach

博士论文改进：新大陆古代利什曼病的起源和传播：生物考古学和分子方法

• 批准号: 1232582
• 负责人: Anne Stone
• 金额: $ 3.04万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1232582&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; origins; dispersal

Leishmaniaisis affects millions of people worldwide today, resulting in disfiguring lesions and fatal complications. The World Health Organization regards leishmaniasis as a "Neglected Tropical Disease," endemic to poverty-stricken countries and rising in incidence by nearly two million cases annually, but lacking effective treatment or prevention. Its worldwide geographic distribution and its impact on human health and well-being make leishmaniasis one of the most significant of the neglected diseases. Leishmaniasis is not, however, solely a contemporary affliction. The fields of bioarchaeology, ethnohistory and genetics provide evidence to support that leishmaniasis has been a burden to humanity long before recorded history. Nevertheless, the origins and movement of the parasite as it evolved and dispersed throughout the globe remains poorly understood.This project by doctoral student Kelly Harkins (Arizona State University), under the supervision of Drs. Anne Stone and Jane Buikstra, will use molecular and bioarchaeological techniques to obtain DNA from a sample of poorly understood contemporary Leishmania strains and archaeologically recovered human remains. These data will be used to test hypotheses that address the evolutionary history of the parasite Leishmania and the emergence of human leishmaniasis in the New World, both of which are the source of ongoing debate. Specifically, this project proposes to characterize strains from the earliest known skeletal cases of New World leishmaniasis in the Andes, to explore the relationship of these early strains to modern strains found throughout the globe today, and with additional data from archaeological and ethnohistoric contexts, to address the nature of the disease's movement in prehistoric South American populations. This project will publicly disseminate new genomic sequence data, essential for understanding pathogen biology and also a powerful tool for those fields and researchers working to improve global public health.

利什曼病如今影响着全世界数百万人，导致毁容性病变和致命的并发症。世界卫生组织将利什曼病视为一种“被忽视的热带病”，是贫困国家的流行病，发病率每年增加近200万例，但缺乏有效的治疗或预防。其全球地理分布及其对人类健康和福祉的影响使利什曼病成为最重要的被忽视的疾病之一。 然而，利什曼病不仅仅是当代的一种疾病。生物考古学、民族史和遗传学领域提供的证据表明，早在有记录的历史之前，利什曼病就已经成为人类的负担。然而，人们对这种寄生虫在全球进化和传播过程中的起源和运动仍知之甚少。该项目由博士生 Kelly Harkins（亚利桑那州立大学）在 Drs. Kelly Harkins 的监督下进行。 Anne Stone 和 Jane Buikstra 将使用分子和生物考古技术从人们知之甚少的当代利什曼原虫菌株样本和考古发现的人类遗骸中获取 DNA。这些数据将用于检验有关寄生虫利什曼原虫的进化历史和新大陆人类利什曼病的出现的假设，这两者都是持续争论的根源。具体来说，该项目拟对安第斯山脉最早已知的新世界利什曼病骨骼病例中的菌株进行表征，探索这些早期菌株与当今在全球发现的现代菌株的关系，并利用来自考古和民族历史背景的额外数据，解决该疾病在史前南美洲人群中传播的本质。该项目将公开传播新的基因组序列数据，这对于了解病原体生物学至关重要，也是致力于改善全球公共卫生的领域和研究人员的强大工具。