Award
NIH Reporter #5R01AI167857-05
Orientia tsutsugamushi Ank-host interactions in scrub typhus pathogenesis
Recipient
Virginia Commonwealth University
Award Amount
$571,945.00
Ceiling
$571,945.00
Awarded
January 30, 2026
Identifier
5R01AI167857-05
NIH awarded a research grant to Virginia Commonwealth University to study the immune evasion mechanisms of Orientia tsutsugamushi, the bacterium causing scrub typhus, aiming to identify novel therapeutic targets.
Description
This NIH research project focuses on understanding how Orientia tsutsugamushi virulence factors called Anks modulate immune defense mechanisms to cause scrub typhus, a potentially deadly disease. The project aims to decipher mechanisms by which Anks inhibit NF-κB, dissect how Ank5 promotes NLRC5 degradation to block MHC-I expression, and identify new host cell pathways and ubiquitome changes modulated by Anks.