Biology subjects

Ndlovu, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Ndlovu, M..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Using social network analysis and non-invasive antibody detection to explore pathogen exposure in wildlife communities

Understanding the dynamics of infectious diseases in ecosystems shared with wildlife is a priority for preventing future threats to human, animal health and conservation. However, the collection of ecological and epidemiological data on wild populations has relied on invasive and costly methods which limited the capacity of investigation. Recent technological developments have changed this trend. In Hwange national park and its surrounding area in Zimbabwe, we combined camera trap-based ecological monitoring over a period of 12 months, covering 14 water holes with a fecal-based antibody survey in 16 large herbivore species. A survey involving 52,829 pictures as well as 629 faecal samples collected every 15 days, has shown Through the modelling of multispecies contact networks, the risk of infection exposure at species-level is predicted. Coupled with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) antibody information, the role of each species in the dynamics of infectious diseases is explored. This study highlights how community networks can provide valuable insights into the functional epidemiological role of wildlife populations. Rather than establishing transmission routes, our aim is to propose a scalable and non-invasive surveillance framework that identifies priority species and areas for epidemiological monitoring in complex ecological systems. Significance StatementMonitoring disease circulation in wildlife is often hindered by the difficulty of collecting epidemiological data. We propose a novel non-invasive approach that combines species interaction networks derived from camera-trap data with non-invasive antibody detection to explore the exposure patterns of large herbivore communities to foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). By linking the position of species in contact networks with their immunological status, we demonstrate the potential of using ecological centrality as a proxy for identifying key hosts in transmission or indicator species for pathogen circulation. Beyond FMDV, this framework can be adapted to other pathogens for which non-invasive immunological assays are currently being developed, making it broadly relevant for wildlife disease surveillance in remote or protected areas.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

The inflammatory skin disease map (ISD map): an interactive computational resource focused on psoriasis and atopic dermatitis molecular mechanisms

BackgroundInflammatory skin diseases (ISD), including atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis (PsO), emerge from a complex network of inter- and intracellular biochemical interactions under the influence of genetic and environmental factors. The complexity of ISD mechanisms hinders translation of research findings into effective treatments and may explain the low remission rates despite the availability of modern targeted therapies. ObjectiveTo model AD- and PsO-associated mechanisms as networks of context-specific molecular interactions, the so-called ISD map, and to check the usefulness of this map as a graphically guided review of AD and PsO mechanisms and as a mechanistic hypothesis-generating platform. MethodsThe ISD map was built by assembling mechanistically resolved causal interactions obtained from relevant biomedical literature via manual curation. ResultsWe demonstrate that the ISD map (https://imi-biomap.elixir-luxembourg.org/) serves as an interactive, graphical review of AD and PsO molecular mechanisms and as a mechanistic hypothesis-generating platform. By analysing the map structure itself or the map integrated with genetics and functional genomics data, we could generate the following mechanistic hypotheses: (i) AD poor response to dupilumab is associated with a potential upregulation of IFNG, IL22, TSLP, IL-17A and IL25 signalling pathways in keratinocytes and/or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding regulators of IFNG expression in Th1 cells and (ii) PsO resistance to cytokine-induced apoptosis is associated with SNPs in IFNG signalling genes regulating SOCS1 in keratinocytes. Finally, the IL4/IL13 pathway in the AD submap of the ISD map was converted into a probabilistic Boolean model to simulate the effects of IFNG in sensory perception of itching after treatment with dupilumab. Our findings suggest that inhibiting both IFNG and IL4R may improve the therapeutic management of itching. ConclusionThe ISD map provides a significant interactive, computationally accessible resource of molecular knowledge on AD and PsO that can be used to graphically review known AD and PsO mechanisms and generate mechanistic hypotheses.

bioinformatics↗