A chitin deacetylase-like protein is a predominant constituent of tick peritrophic membrane that influences the persistence of Lyme disease pathogens within the vector.

ABSTRACT: Ixodes scapularis is the specific arthropod vector for a number of globally prevalent infections, including Lyme disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. A feeding-induced and acellular epithelial barrier, known as the peritrophic membrane (PM) is detectable in I. scapularis. However, whether or how the PM influences the persistence of major tick-borne pathogens, such as B. burgdorferi, remains largely unknown. Mass spectrometry-based proteome analyses of isolated PM from fed ticks revealed that the membrane contains a few detectable proteins, including a predominant and immunogenic 60 kDa protein with homology to arthropod chitin deacetylase (CDA), herein termed I. scapularis CDA-like protein or IsCDA. Although IsCDA is primarily expressed in the gut and induced early during

SUBMITTER: Kariu T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3798397 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature