Spit-acular entry: Borrelia gets help from a tick salivary protein to move from the mammalian host to the arthropod vector.
In vector-host-pathogen interactions, vector saliva plays a key role in the successful acquisition of blood and in facilitating the establishment of pathogens in mammalian hosts. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Narasimhan et al. describe how a tick salivary antioxidant neutralizes reactive oxygen species at the tick-host interface and facilitates the tick vector's acquisition of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria from an infected mammalian host.
Anderson
Jennifer M
JM
Vector Molecular Biology Unit, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
Valenzuela
Jesus G
JG
D000818:Animals; D001898:Borrelia / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology
D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides