Favorite Tick and Why: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus because this is the most important cattle tick in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and the first tick species subject of my studies.

Favorite Tick and Why: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus because this is the most important cattle tick in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and the first tick species subject of my studies.

Education:

Faculty of Physics. Moscow State University 1979 - 1981Physics
Faculty of Physics. University of Havana, Cuba Physicist 1984 Physics
Center for Biological Research. Havana, Cuba 1984 - 1986 Molecular Biology
Ph.D. in Biology, University of Havana, Cuba Ph.D. 1994 Molecular Biology

Title: Research Professor

Phone: (405) 7440372

Fax: 405 744-5275

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Positions and Employment:

1986 - 1987 Institute for Molecular Biology I. ETH. Zurich University. Honggerberg 8093. Switzerland. Research assistant with Prof. Charles Weissmann.

1987 - 1991 Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología, CIGB). P.O.Box 6162. Havana 6, Cuba. Senior Scientist. Head of the Mammalian Cell Genetics Division.

1991 - 1992 Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology. Division of Molecular Biology. Osaka University. 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita-shi, Osaka 565, Japan. Matsumae International Foundation fellowship recipient with Prof. Tadatsugu Taniguchi.

1992 - 1998 Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. P.O.Box 6162. Havana 6, Cuba. Director for Research & Development.

1998 - 1999 Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. P.O.Box 6162. Havana 6, Cuba. Senior Scientist, Mammalian Cell Genetics Division.

2000 – present Research Professor. Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University. Stillwater, OK 74078-2007, U.S.A.

2002 – present Visitng Professor. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.

Area of Research Expertise: Molecular Biology, Systems Biology, Biotechnology

Research Interests: Infectious diseases. Molecular approaches to the study of host-vector-pathogen interactions, gene regulation, pathogenesis, functional genomics, evolution and immunology. Ticks and tick-borne diseases. Tuberculosis and other pathogenic intracellular bacteria. Vaccinology. Biotechnology.

Teaching: Molecular Biology

Selected Publications: (Last 3-5 years)

de la Fuente, J., Blouin, E. F., Kocan, K. M. 2003. Infection exclusion of the rickettsial pathogen, Anaplasma marginale, in the tick vector, Dermacentor variabilis. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 10: 182-184.

de la Fuente, J., Garcia-Garcia, J. C., Blouin, E. F., Kocan, K. M. 2003. Characterization of the functional domain of major surface protein 1a involved in adhesion of the rickettsia Anaplasma marginale to host cells. Veterinary Microbiology 91: 265-283.

Almazán, C., Kocan, K. M., Bergman, D. K., Garcia-Garcia, J. C., Blouin, E. F., de la Fuente, J. 2003. Identification of protective antigens for the control of Ixodes scapularis infestations using cDNA expression library immunization. Vaccine 21: 1492-1501.

de la Fuente, J., Van Den Bussche, R. A., Prado, T., Kocan, K. M. 2003. Anaplasma marginale major surface protein 1α genotypes evolved under positive selection pressure but are not markers for geographic isolates. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 41: 1609-1616.

de la Fuente, J., Kocan, K. M. 2003. Advances in the identification and characterization of protective antigens for development of recombinant vaccines against tick infestations. Expert Review of Vaccines 2: 583-593.

de la Fuente, J., Vicente, J., Höfle, U., Ruiz-Fons, F., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Van Den Bussche, R.A., Kocan, K.M., Gortazar, C. 2004. Anaplasma infection in free-ranging Iberian red deer in the region of Castilla - La Mancha, Spain. Veterinary Microbiology 100: 163-173.

Kocan, K., de la Fuente, J., Blouin, E. F., Garcia-Garcia, J. C. 2004. Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae): Recent Advances in Defining Host-Pathogen Adaptations of a Tick-borne Rickettsia. Parasitology 129: S285-S300.

Garcia-Garcia, J. C., de la Fuente, J., Blouin, E. F., Halbur, T., Onet, V. C., Saliki, J. T., Kocan, K. M. 2004. Differential expression of the msp1α gene of Anaplasma marginale occurs in bovine erythrocytes and tick cells. Veterinary Microbiology 98: 261-272.

de la Fuente, J., Garcia-Garcia, J. C., Barbet, A. F., Blouin, E. F., Kocan, K. M. 2004. Adhesion of outer membrane proteins containing tandem repeats of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) to tick cells. Veterinary Microbiology 98: 313-322.

Garcia-Garcia, J.C., de la Fuente, J., Kocan, K.M., Blouin, E.F., Halbur, T., Onet, V.C., Saliki, J.T. 2004. Mapping of B-cell epitopes in the N-terminal repeated peptides of Anaplasma marginale major surface protein 1a and characterization of the humoral immune response of cattle immunized with recombinant and whole organism antigens. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 98: 137-151.

de la Fuente, J., Ayoubi, P., Blouin, E. F., Almazán, C., Naranjo, V., Kocan, K. M. 2005. Gene expression profiling of human promyelocytic cells in response to infection with Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Cellular Microbiology 7: 549-559.

de la Fuente, J., Massung, R. F., Wong, S. J., Chu, F. K., Lutz, H., Meli, M., von Loewenich, F. D., Grzeszczuk, A., Torina, A., Caracappa, S., Mangold, A. J., Naranjo, V., Stuen, S., Kocan, K. M. 2005. Sequence analysis of the msp4 gene of Anaplasma phagocytophilum strains. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 43: 1309-1317.

Revel, A.T., Blevins, J.S., Almazán, C., Kocan, K.M., de la Fuente, J., Hagman, K.E., Norgard, M.V. 2005. bptA (bbe16) is essential for the persistente of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in its natural tick vector. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A 102: 6972-6977.

Almazán, C., Blas-Machado, U., Kocan, K. M., Yoshioka, J. H., Blouin, E. F., Mangold, A. J., de la Fuente, J. 2005. Characterization of three Ixodes scapularis cDNAs protective against tick infestations. Vaccine 23: 4403-4416.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Blouin, E.F., Naranjo, V., Kocan, K.M. 2005. RNA interference screening in ticks for identification of protective antigens. Parasitology Research 96: 137-141.

Almazán, C., Kocan, K. M., Blouin, E. F., de la Fuente, J. 2005. Vaccination with recombinant tick antigens for the control of Ixodes scapularis adult infestations. Vaccine 23: 5294-5298.

Naranjo, V., Höfle, U., Vicente, J., Martín, M.P., Ruiz-Fons, F., Gortazar, C., Kocan, K.M., de la Fuente, J. 2006. Genes differentially expressed in oropharyngeal tonsils and mandibular lymph nodes of tuberculous and non-tuberculous European wild boars naturally exposed to Mycobacterium bovis. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 46: 298-312.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Blas-Machado, U., Naranjo, V., Mangold, A.J., Blouin, E.F., Gortazar, C., Kocan, K.M. 2006. The tick protective antigen, 4D8, is a conserved protein involved in modulation of tick blood ingestion and reproduction. Vaccine 24: 4082-4095.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Naranjo, V., Blouin, E.F., Kocan, K.M. 2006. Synergistic effect of silencing the expression of tick protective antigens 4D8 and Rs86 in Rhipicephalus sanguineus by RNA interference. Parasitology Research 99: 108-113.

de la Fuente, J., Kocan, K.M. 2006. Strategies for development of vaccines for control of ixodid tick species. Parasite Immunology 28: 275-283.

Naranjo, V., Ayoubi, P., Vicente, J., Ruiz-Fons, F., Gortazar, C., Kocan, K.M., de la Fuente, J. 2006. Characterization of selected genes upregulated in non-tuberculous European wild boar as possible correlates of resistance to Mycobacterium bovis infection. Veterinary Microbiology 116: 224-231.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Naranjo, V., Blouin, E.F., Meyer, J.M., Kocan, K.M. 2006. Autocidal control of ticks by silencing of a single gene by RNA interference. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 344: 332-338.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Blouin, E.F., Naranjo, V., Kocan, K.M. 2006. Reduction of tick infections with Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum by targeting the tick protective antigen subolesin. Parasitology Research 100: 85-91.

de la Fuente, J., Atkinson, M.W., Naranjo, V., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Mangold, A.J., Keating, K.A., Kocan, K.M. 2007. Sequence analysis of the msp4 gene of Anaplasma ovis strains. Veterinary Microbiology 119: 375-381.

de la Fuente, J., Ruybal, P., Mtshali, M.S., Naranjo, V., Shuqing, L., Mangold, A.J., Rodríguez, S.D., Jiménez, R., Vicente, J., Moretta, R., Torina, A., Almazán, C., Mbati, P.M., Torioni de Echaide, S., Farber, M., Rosario-Cruz, R., Gortazar, C., Kocan, K.M. 2007. Analysis of world strains of Anaplasma marginale using major surface protein 1a repeat sequences. Veterinary Microbiology 119: 382-390.

Naranjo, V., Villar, M., Martín-Hernando, M.P., Vidal, D., Höfle, U., Gortazar, C., Kocan, K.M., Vázquez, J., de la Fuente, J. 2007. Proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of differential stress/inflammatory responses in mandibular lymph nodes and oropharyngeal tonsils of European wild boars naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Proteomics 7: 220-231.

Blas-Machado, U., de la Fuente, J., Blouin, E.F., Almazán, C., Kocan, K.M., Mysore, J.V. 2007. Experimental infection of C3H/HeJ mice with the NY18 isolate of Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Veterinary Pathology 44: 64-73.

Nijhof, A.M., Taoufik, A., de la Fuente, J., Kocan, K.M., de Vries, E., Jongejan, F. 2007. Gene silencing of the tick protective antigens, Bm86, Bm91 and subolesin, in the one-host tick Boophilus microplus by RNA interference. International Journal for Parasitology 37: 653-662.

Martín-Hernando, M.P., Höfle, U., Vicente, J., Ruiz-Fons, F., Vidal, D., Barral, M., Garrido, J.A., de la Fuente, J., Gortazar, C. 2007. Lesions associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection in the European wild boar. Tuberculosis 87: 360-367.

Naranjo, V., Gortazar, C., Villar, M., de la Fuente, J. 2007. Comparative genomics and proteomics to study tissue-specific response and function in natural Mycobacterium bovis infections. Animal Health Research Reviews 8: 81-88.

de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Canales, M., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Kocan, K.M., Willadsen, P. 2007. A ten-year review of commercial vaccine performance for control of tick infestations on cattle. Animal Health Research Reviews 8: 23-28.

de la Fuente, J., Kocan, K.M., Almazán, C., Blouin, E.F. 2007. RNA interference for the study and genetic manipulation of ticks. Trends in Parasitology 23: 427-433.

Kocan, K.M., Manzano-Roman, R., de la Fuente, J. 2007. Transovarial silencing of the subolesin gene in three-host ixodid tick species after injection of replete females with subolesin dsRNA. Parasitology Research 100: 1411-1415.

Jongejan, F., Nene, V., de la Fuente, J., Pain, A., Willadsen, P. 2007. Advances in the genomics of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Trends in Parasitology 23: 391-396.

Fernández de Mera, I.G., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Ayoubi, P., Naranjo, V., Kocan, K.M., Gortazar, C., de la Fuente, J. 2007. Differential expression of inflammatory and immune response genes in mesenteric lymph nodes of Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Developmental and Comparative Immunology, in press.

de la Fuente, J., Manzano-Roman, R., Blouin, E.F., Naranjo, V., Kocan, K.M. 2007. Sp110 transcription is induced and required by Anaplasma phagocytophilum for infection of human promyelocytic cells. BMC Infectious Diseases 7: 110.

de la Fuente, J., Blouin, E.F., Manzano-Roman, R., Naranjo, V., Almazán, C., Perez de la Lastra, J.M., Zivkovic, Z., Jongejan, F., Kocan, K.M. 2007. Functional genomic studies of tick cells in response to infection with the cattle pathogen, Anaplasma marginale. Genomics, in press.

Manzano-Roman, R., Almazán, C., Naranjo, V., Blouin, E.F., Kocan, K.M., de la Fuente, J. 2008. Expression of perilipin in human promyelocytic cells in response to Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection results in modified lipid metabolism. Journal of Medical Microbiology, in press.