Tick Extracellular Vesicles Alter Epidermal Keratinocyte Function.

ABSTRACT: Wound healing has been extensively studied through the lens of inflammatory disorders and cancer, but limited attention has been given to hematophagy and arthropod-borne diseases. Hematophagous ectoparasites, including ticks, subvert the wound healing response to maintain prolonged attachment and facilitate blood feeding. In this study, we unveil a strategy through which extracellular vesicles ensure blood feeding and arthropod survival in 3 medically relevant tick species. Through single-cell RNA sequencing and murine genetics, we demonstrate that wild-type animals infested with Ixodes scapularis that produce fewer extracellular vesicles display a unique epidermal subpopulation with a mesenchymal-like transcriptional program and an overrepresentation of pathways connected to wound healing

SUBMITTER: Marnin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12603915 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature