Analysis of salivary gland transcripts of the sand fly Lutzomyia ayacuchensis, a vector of Andean-type cutaneous leishmaniasis.

ABSTRACT: The saliva of blood sucking insects contains potent pharmacologically active components that assist them in counteracting the host hemostatic and inflammatory systems during blood feeding. In addition, sand fly salivary proteins affect host immunity and have the potential to be a vaccine against Leishmania infection. In the present study, the salivary gland transcripts of Lutzomyia ayacuchensis, a vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes, were analyzed by sequencing randomly selected clones of the salivary gland cDNA library of this sand fly. This resulted in the identification of the most abundant transcripts coding for secreted proteins. These proteins were homologous to the salivary molecules present in other sand flies including the RGD-containing peptide, PpS

SUBMITTER: Kato H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3873855 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature