Identification and Characterization of Ixodes scapularis Antigens That Elicit Tick Immunity Using Yeast Surface Display

PLoS One

Sukanya Narasimhan¹  Joost C. M. Meijers¹  Eric T. Boder¹  Kamran Bakhtiari¹  Cornelis van't Veer²  Erol Fikrig³  Alje P. van Dam³  Joppe W. R. Hovius⁴  Kathleen DePonte⁴  Tom van der Poll⁴  Tim J. Schuijt⁴  Sirlei Daffre⁵ 

[1] Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;Department of Experimental Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America;Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

关键词: Nymphs;    Rabbits;    Recombinant proteins;    Salivary glands;    Serum proteins;    Thrombin;    Ixodes;    Spirochetes;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.pone.0015926

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Repeated exposure of rabbits and other animals to ticks results in acquired resistance or immunity to subsequent tick bites and is partially elicited by antibodies directed against tick antigens. In this study we demonstrate the utility of a yeast surface display approach to identify tick salivary antigens that react with tick-immune serum. We constructed an Ixodes scapularis nymphal salivary gland yeast surface display library and screened the library with nymph-immune rabbit sera and identified five salivary antigens. Four of these proteins, designated P8, P19, P23 and P32, had a predicted signal sequence. We generated recombinant (r) P8, P19 and P23 in a Drosophila expression system for functional and immunization studies. rP8 showed anti-complement activity and rP23 demonstrated anti-coagulant activity. Ixodes scapularis feeding was significantly impaired when nymphs were fed on rabbits immunized with a cocktail of rP8, rP19 and rP23, a hall mark of tick-immunity. These studies also suggest that these antigens may serve as potential vaccine candidates to thwart tick feeding.

【 授权许可】

CC BY