Blood meal acquisition by ticks; molecular advances and implications for vaccine development.
In their quest for a blood meal, hematophagous arthropods must first defeat the host's hemostatic defense. Following injury as it occurs when hematophagous arthropods insert their proboscis into host skin to feed, the host will attempt to stop excessive blood loss through its hemostatic defense mechanism involving platelet aggregation, blood clotting and vasoconstriction. To acquire a full blood meal hematophagous arthropods inject an arsenal of bioactive enzymes which ultimately overpower the host's hemostatic defense. We have looked at a selected number of studies on the molecular biology of arthropod anti-hemostatic proteins and developed commentaries on the suitability of these molecules as target tick vaccine antigens.
Mulenga
Albert
A
Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kitaku, Kita 18, Nishi 9, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan.
Tsuda
Akiko
A
Sugimoto
Chihiro
C
Onuma
Misao
M
D000818:Animals; D006487:Hemostasis / Q000502:physiology; D008322:Mammals / Q000097:blood; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000276:immunology; D013987:Ticks / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D014612:Vaccines
D014612:Vaccines