Update on the proteomics of major arthropod vectors of human and animal pathogens

Abstract

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are defined as infectious diseases of humans and animals caused by pathogenic agents such as viruses, protists, bacteria, and helminths transmitted by the bite of blood-feeding arthropod (BFA) vectors. VBDs represent a major public health threat in endemic areas, generally subtropical zones, and many are considered to be neglected diseases. Genome sequencing of some arthropod vectors as well as modern proteomic and genomic technologies are expanding our knowledge of arthropod-pathogen interactions. This review describes the proteomic approaches that have been used to investigate diverse biological questions about arthropod vectors, including the interplay between vectors and pathogens. Proteomic studies have identified proteins and biochemical pathways that may be involved in molecular crosstalk in BFA-pathogen associations. Future work can build upon this promising start and functional analyses coupled with interactome bioassays will be carried out to investigate the role of candidate peptides and proteins in BFA-human pathogen associations. Dissection of the host-pathogen interactome will be key to understanding the strategies and biochemical pathways used by BFAs to cope with pathogens.

Transmission-Blocking Vaccines: Focus on Anti-Vector Vaccines against Tick-Borne Diseases

“…Over the past decade, several studies have used genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics approaches to identify some of the potential candidates for the development of anti-vector vaccines (Dinglasan et al 2005 ; Geiger et al 2011 ; Gibson et al 2013 ; Heekin et al 2013a , b ; Hill et al 2005 ; Patramool et al 2012 ; Ramabu et al 2010 ; Schwarz et al 2013 ; Valenzuela 2004b ; Vernick and Waters 2004 ; Villar et al 2014a , b ). With the availability of already abundant amount of information on several tick genomes, transcriptomes and proteomes, future studies need to focus on developing suitable animal models and approaches to evaluate proper efficacy of a molecule as a vaccine candidate for human trials.…”

Hijacking of Host Cellular Functions by an Intracellular Parasite, the Microsporidian Anncaliia algerae

“…To date, the available proteomics data on host-parasite interactions are mainly about the host's response to the parasite [4], [5], [32], [33]. Both the low parasite size of intracellular parasites and the low amount of parasite proteins compared to their host cells can explain the difficulty to extract enough parasite proteins from host cells suitable for detection during the kinetics of the host-parasite cross-talk.…”

Decoding the Ubiquitin-Mediated Pathway of Arthropod Disease Vectors

“…We compared our findings to datasets available for Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Drosophila melanogaster , Mus musculus and Homo sapiens [10-13]. While computational biology has been extensively used as a methodology in disease-causing arthropods for comparative genomics [14,15], transcriptomics [14,16-19] and quantitative proteomics [14,20,21], it has not been fully utilized to uncover the machinery associated with posttranslational modifications. …”