title: Mapping protective epitopes in the tick and mosquito subolesin ortholog proteins.
abstract: The tick protective antigen, subolesin, is a structural and functional ortholog of insect akirins, an evolutionary conserved group of proteins that regulate gene expression thus affecting multiple cellular processes such as digestion, immune response, reproduction and development. In this study, we searched for common protective epitopes in tick and mosquito subolesin ortolog proteins. By combining the results of peptide and phage-display libraries scan analysis with sera from protected animals with computational modeling, three different epitope types (i) linear B-cell epitopes, (ii) conformational epitopes, and (iii) conformational discontinuous epitopes were identified. The determination of conserved protective epitopes in subolesin ortologs may lead to the development of a multi-target universal vaccine directed at the control of both arthropod infestations and reduction of vector capacity to transmit pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigacion en Recursos Cinegeticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Prudencio
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pérez de la Lastra
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canales
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villar
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D009033:Culicidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D019151:Peptide Library; D010449:Peptide Mapping; D011817:Rabbits; D012756:Sheep; D013987:Ticks / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D019476:Insect Proteins; D019151:Peptide Library; D014612:Vaccines; C550207:subolesin, tick