Viju Vijayan Pillai

Disseminated <i>Halicephalobus gingivalis</i> infection in a horse

Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2022-12-08 · 4 citations

A 19-y-old American Saddlebred gelding was evaluated for epiphora of the right eye and generalized cachexia. Initial examination revealed anterior uveitis without ulceration, for which treatment was initiated. Despite the initial response to treatment, the signs progressively worsened to blindness. Histologic examination of the enucleated eye revealed granulomatous panuveitis and optic neuritis with intralesional nematode larvae identified as Halicephalobus gingivalis. Over time and despite anth…

Transformed bovine trophoblast stem cell lines, characterization, gene editing and secretion

Biology of Reproduction · 2025-09-13 · 2 citations

Trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) serve as a critical model for understanding placental development, early embryo-maternal interactions, and pregnancy establishment in mammals. In cattle, the developing trophectoderm plays an essential role in conceptus elongation and secretion of factors necessary for maternal recognition of pregnancy. Building on previous work identifying signaling pathways regulating bovine TSC self-renewal and differentiation, we report the generation and characterization of tra…

<i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> model for <i>in vivo</i> screening of human gut microbiota mediated colonization and colonization resistance against <i>Clostridioides difficile</i>

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-02-27 · 2 citations

Abstract The conventional bottom-up approach to probing the human gut microbiome’s link with hosts in germ-free models is hampered by considerable costs and time. To address this, our study introduces the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an innovative high-throughput model for exploring the gut microbiome’s impact on functional phenotypes. Traditionally, C. elegans studies have used continuous feeding for bacterial administration, a method that is unsuitable for anaerobes. For the first time,…

Derivation of primed sheep embryonic stem cells and conversion to an intermediate naïve-like state

Biology of Reproduction · 2026-04-16 · 1 citations

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from the inner cell mass of embryos possess unlimited self-renewal and pluripotency, offering a powerful system to study early development and enable genetic and biotechnological innovation. Although several livestock ESC lines have been reported in recent years, defining culture conditions that support stable long-term self-renewal and controlled transitions across pluripotent states remains challenging. Here, we report the de novo derivation of sheep (ovine)…

Characterization of enzootic nasal tumor virus 1–associated enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma in sheep and development of a tumor-derived organoid model

Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation · 2026-01-29 · 1 citations

Enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma (ENA) is a contagious neoplasm of the ethmoid turbinate mucosa in sheep, caused by enzootic nasal tumor virus 1 (ENTV1; family Retroviridae , unclassified Betaretrovirus ). We report an outbreak of ENTV1-associated ENA in a sheep flock in South Dakota, USA. Affected animals had dyspnea, unilateral nasal discharge, and progressive weight loss. Postmortem examination revealed unilateral nasal masses that were diagnosed histologically as invasive nasal adenocarcinoma.…