Immunity against Ixodes scapularis salivary proteins expressed within 24 hours of attachment thwarts tick feeding and impairs Borrelia transmission.
In North America, the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, an obligate haematophagus arthropod, is a vector of several human pathogens including Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent. In this report, we show that the tick salivary gland transcriptome and proteome is dynamic and changes during the process of engorgement. We demonstrate, using a guinea pig model of I. scapularis feeding and B. burgdorferi transmission, that immunity directed against salivary proteins expressed in the first 24 h of tick attachment - and not later - is sufficient to evoke all the hallmarks of acquired tick-immunity, to thwart tick feeding and also to impair Borrelia transmission. Defining this subset of proteins will promote a mechanistic understanding of novel I. scapularis proteins critical for the initiation of tick feeding and for Borrelia transmission.
Narasimhan
Sukanya
S
Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Deponte
Kathleen
K
Marcantonio
Nancy
N
Liang
Xianping
X
Royce
Thomas E
TE
Nelson
Kenneth F
KF
Booth
Carmen J
CJ
Koski
Benjamin
B
Anderson
John F
JF
Kantor
Fred
F
Fikrig
Erol
E
D000818:Animals; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D018884:Ixodes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000635:transmission*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000276:immunology*
D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides