<i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>, <i>Mus musculus</i>, and humans have distinct transcriptomic responses to larval <i>Ixodes scapularis</i> bites.

ABSTRACT: Ixodes scapularis ticks are an important vector for at least seven tick-borne human pathogens, including a North American Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. The ability for these ticks to survive in nature is credited, in part, to their ability to feed on a variety of hosts without triggering an immune response capable of preventing tick feeding. While the ability of nymphal ticks to feed on a variety of hosts has been well documented, the host-parasite interactions between larval I. scapularis and different vertebrate hosts are relatively unexplored. Here we report on the changes in the vertebrate host transcriptome present at the larval tick bite site using the natural I. scapularis host Peromyscus leucopus, a non-natural rodent host, Mus

SUBMITTER: Bourgeois JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11977304 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature