Rickettsia peacockii, an endosymbiont of Dermacentor andersoni, does not elicit or inhibit humoral immune responses from immunocompetent D. andersoni or Ixodes scapularis cell lines.

ABSTRACT: Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor andersoni cell lines were stimulated with heat-killed Escherichia coli and Micrococcus luteus to investigate whether infection by Rickettsia peacockii, an endosymbiont of D. andersoni, modifies humoral immune responses. Radial diffusion assays, western blotting, flow cytometry, and quantitative reverse-transcription PCR were used to determine if expression of bacteriolytic peptides, including lysozyme and defensin, was upregulated by bacterial stimulation or infection with R. peacockii. The I. scapularis line IDE12 upregulated expression of lysozyme and defensin following stimulation. The D. andersoni cell line DAE15 also expressed defensin and lysozyme, but only lysozyme was upregulated by bacterial stimulation. R. peacockii infection alone, or in cells s

SUBMITTER: Mattila JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2099254 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature