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Researchers at Texas State University, collaborating with a team from the University of New Mexico, have discovered that fish can smell viruses, prompting fast antiviral immune responses. Irene Salinas, associate professor in the Department of Biology at UNM, is the principal investigator of the study. Mar Huertas, assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Texas State, is co-PI in the National Science Foundation project sponsoring the research.The study, "Olfactory sensory neurons mediate ultrarapid antiviral immune responses in a TrkA-dependent manner," was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS).
"It is a very exciting discovery because we described a new olfactory function in vertebrates – fish can smell viruses," Huertas said. "Also, we are unravelling the connection between the olfactory and immune system, which can be translated from fish to higher vertebrates. This research can have exciting outcomes for fish vaccination in aquaculture. Half of the fish we find in the market comes from aquaculture, and trout is one of the main aquaculture species in the U.S. In addition, since all vertebrates share common traits in their sense of smell and immune system, this study opens a new area of research in mammal immunology.
For the study, Huertas exposed the nose of a trout to a live attenuated infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). She recorded the neural responses, capturing the instant electric responses of the fish nose after the detection of the pathogen – direct evidence that fish can detect pathogens with their sense of smell. Huertas also demonstrated that a drug for a specific receptor in the nose (the TrkA-like receptor), inhibited the fish virus responses. These findings shed new light on immunological responses in vertebrates and could influence the design and delivery of future nasal vaccines.
Published on June 3, 2019 in P.N.A.S.:
