title: The impact of gene knock-down and vaccination against salivary metalloproteases on blood feeding and egg laying by Ixodes ricinus.
abstract: Two cDNAs coding homologous putative metalloproteases (Metis 1 and Metis 2, expected molecular weights of 55.6 and 56.0kDa, respectively) were identified from the hard tick Ixodes ricinus. The expression of Metis genes was induced in salivary glands during tick blood meal. RNA interference was used to assess the role of both Metis 1 and Metis 2 in tick feeding. It was found that salivary gland extracts lacking Metis 1-2 had a restricted ability to interfere with fibrinolysis. RNAi against Metis 1-2 also induced a high mortality rate. An immune reaction was raised in repeatedly bitten animals against Metis 1 and 2. Vaccination of hosts with the recombinant Metis 1 protein produced in a eukaryotic system partially interfered with completion of the blood meal. Although vaccination did not alter the survival rate or feeding time of ticks, their weight gain and oviposition rate were reduced. This will affect their reproductive fitness in the field. We believe this is the first report of an anti-tick vaccine trial using a metalloprotease derived from I. ricinus.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire des Ectoparasites, IBMM (Institut de Biologie et Médecine Moléculaires), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Rue des Professeurs Jeener et Brachet, 12, B-6041 Gosselies, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Decrem
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariller
authors.forename: Kathia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lahaye
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Blasioli
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beaufays
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zouaoui Boudjeltia
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vanhaeverbeek
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cérutti
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brossard
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanhamme
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Godfroid
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005342:Fibrinolysis; D015723:Gene Library; D020868:Gene Silencing; D018884:Ixodes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D045726:Metalloproteases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010058:Oviposition; D034622:RNA Interference; D011817:Rabbits; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000201:enzymology*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides; D045726:Metalloproteases