Tick saliva and its role in pathogen transmission

Nuttall, Patricia A.

doi:10.1007/s00508-019-1500-y

Cited by 70 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 125 publications

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“…Arthropods use saliva to counteract the response against injury caused during the process of blood feeding (piercing and tearing) that trigger host defense mechanisms as well as to facilitate the process of obtaining the blood. Evidence suggests that pathogens may take advantage of the immunomodulatory properties of the arthropod saliva to establish infection (7–9). Arthropod saliva modulates the transmission of pathogens either directly by enhancing pathogen invasion (10, 11) or indirectly by modulating host immune responses (12, 13).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Tick Salivary Protein Profiles and Human Immune Responses to Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) From the Wild vs. a Laboratory Colony

et al. 2019

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Ticks are a growing concern to human and animal health worldwide and they are leading vectors of arthropod-borne pathogens in the United States. Ticks are pool blood feeders that can attach to the host skin for days to weeks using their saliva to counteract the host defenses. Tick saliva, as in other hematophagous arthropods, contains pharmacological and immunological active compounds, which modulate local and systemic immune responses and induce antibody production. In the present study, we explore differences in the salivary gland extract (SGE) protein content of Amblyomma americanum ticks raised in a laboratory colony (CT) vs. those collected in the field (FT). First, we measured the IgG antibody levels against SGE in healthy volunteers residing in Kansas. ELISA test showed higher IgG antibody levels when using the SGE from CT as antigen. Interestingly, antibody levels against both, CT-SGE and FT-SGE, were high in the warm months (May–June) and decreased in the cold months (September–November). Immunoblot testing revealed a set of different immunogenic bands for each group of ticks and mass spectrometry data revealed differences in at 19 proteins specifically identified in the CT-SGE group and 20 from the FT-SGE group. Our results suggest that differences in the salivary proteins between CT-SGE and FT-SGE may explain the differential immune responses observed in this study.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Tick Salivary Protein Profiles and Human Immune Responses to Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) From the Wild vs. a Laboratory Colony

et al. 2019

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“…sanguineous , and D . variabilis suppressed expression of PI markers by MΦ that were first activated by LPS or were exposed to pathogens [29, 61–64]. Given our observations that AAS27 and AAS41 suppressed expression of pro-inflammation markers by LPS-activated MΦ, it is potentially possible that the immunosuppressive effects observed in tick saliva/SGE of different tick species could be mediated by AAS27 and AAS41 homologs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Amblyomma americanum ticks utilizes countervailing pro and anti-inflammatory proteins to evade host defense

Bakshi¹,

Kim²,

Porter³

et al. 2019

PLoS Pathog

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Feeding and transmission of tick-borne disease (TBD) agents by ticks are facilitated by tick saliva proteins (TSP). Thus, defining functional roles of TSPs in tick evasion is expected to reveal potential targets in tick-antigen based vaccines to prevent TBD infections. This study describes two types of Amblyomma americanum TSPs: those that are similar to LPS activate macrophage (MΦ) to express pro-inflammation (PI) markers and another set that suppresses PI marker expression by activated MΦ. We show that similar to LPS, three recombinant (r) A. americanum insulin-like growth factor binding-related proteins (rAamIGFBP-rP1, rAamIGFBP-rP6S, and rAamIGFBP-rP6L), hereafter designated as PI-rTSPs, stimulated both PBMC -derived MΦ and mice RAW 267.4 MΦ to express PI co-stimulatory markers, CD40, CD80, and CD86 and cytokines, TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6. In contrast, two A. americanum tick saliva serine protease inhibitors (serpins), AAS27 and AAS41, hereafter designated as anti-inflammatory (AI) rTSPs, on their own did not affect MΦ function or suppress expression of PI markers, but enhanced expression of AI cytokines (IL-10 and TGFβ) in MΦ that were pre-activated by LPS or PI-rTSPs. Mice paw edema test demonstrated that in vitro validated PI- and AI-rTSPs are functional in vivo since injection of HEK293-expressed PI-rTSPs (individually or as a cocktail) induced edema comparable to carrageenan-induced edema and was characterized by upregulation of CD40, CD80, CD86, TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, and chemokines: CXCL1, CCL2, CCL3, CCL5, and CCL11, whereas the AI-rTSPs (individually and cocktail) were suppressive. We propose that the tick may utilize countervailing PI and AI TSPs to regulate evasion of host immune defenses whereby TSPs such as rAamIGFBP-rPs activate host immune cells and proteins such as AAS27 and AAS41 suppress the activated immune cells.

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“…Tick-borne pathogens are transmitted through tick saliva, a phenomenon called saliva-assisted transmission [ 48 ]. Tick saliva can also contain a neurotoxin that causes host paralysis [ 49 , 50 , 51 ].…”

Section: Ecology and Economic Importance Of Ticks And Tick-borne Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant-Derived Natural Compounds for Tick Pest Control in Livestock and Wildlife: Pragmatism or Utopia?

Quadros¹,

Johnson

Whitney³

et al. 2020

Insects

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Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a significant economic hindrance for livestock production and a menace to public health. The expansion of tick populations into new areas, the occurrence of acaricide resistance to synthetic chemical treatments, the potentially toxic contamination of food supplies, and the difficulty of applying chemical control in wild-animal populations have created greater interest in developing new tick control alternatives. Plant compounds represent a promising avenue for the discovery of such alternatives. Several plant extracts and secondary metabolites have repellent and acaricidal effects. However, very little is known about their mode of action, and their commercialization is faced with multiple hurdles, from the determination of an adequate formulation to field validation and public availability. Further, the applicability of these compounds to control ticks in wild-animal populations is restrained by inadequate delivery systems that cannot guarantee accurate dosage delivery at the right time to the target animal populations. More work, financial support, and collaboration with regulatory authorities, research groups, and private companies are needed to overcome these obstacles. Here, we review the advancements on known plant-derived natural compounds with acaricidal potential and discuss the road ahead toward the implementation of organic control in managing ticks and tick-borne diseases.

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Tick saliva and its role in pathogen transmission

Cited by 70 publications

References 125 publications

Differential Tick Salivary Protein Profiles and Human Immune Responses to Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) From the Wild vs. a Laboratory Colony

Differential Tick Salivary Protein Profiles and Human Immune Responses to Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) From the Wild vs. a Laboratory Colony

Amblyomma americanum ticks utilizes countervailing pro and anti-inflammatory proteins to evade host defense

Plant-Derived Natural Compounds for Tick Pest Control in Livestock and Wildlife: Pragmatism or Utopia?

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