TROSPA, an Ixodes scapularis receptor for Borrelia burgdorferi.
The Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi naturally persists in a cycle that primarily involves ticks and mammals. We have now identified a tick receptor (TROSPA) that is required for spirochetal colonization of Ixodes scapularis. B. burgdorferi outer surface protein A, which is abundantly expressed on spirochetes within the arthropod and essential for pathogen adherence to the vector, specifically bound to TROSPA. TROSPA mRNA levels in ticks increased following spirochete infestation and decreased in response to engorgement, events that are temporally linked to B. burgdorferi entry into and egress from the vector. The blockade of TROSPA by TROSPA antisera or by the repression of TROSPA expression via RNA interference reduced B. burgdorferi adherence to the I. scapularis gut in vivo, thereby preventing efficient colonization of the vector and subsequently reducing pathogen transmission to the mammalian host. Identification of an I. scapularis receptor for B. burgdorferi is the first step toward elucidating arthropod ligands that are required for survival of spirochetes in nature.
Pal
Utpal
U
Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Li
Xin
X
Wang
Tian
T
Montgomery
Ruth R
RR
Ramamoorthi
Nandhini
N
Desilva
Aravinda M
AM
Bao
Fukai
F
Yang
Xiaofeng
X
Pypaert
Marc
M
Pradhan
Deepti
D
Kantor
Fred S
FS
Telford
Sam
S
Anderson
John F
JF
Fikrig
Erol
E
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D001483:Base Sequence; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D008074:Lipoproteins; C072045:OspA protein; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C493779:TROSPA protein, Ixodes scapularis