Borrelia burgdorferi infection modifies protein content in saliva of Ixodes scapularis nymphs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lyme disease (LD) caused by Borrelia burgdorferi is the most prevalent tick-borne disease. There is evidence that vaccines based on tick proteins that promote tick transmission of B. burgdorferi could prevent LD. As Ixodes scapularis nymph tick bites are responsible for most LD cases, this study sought to identify nymph tick saliva proteins associated with B. burgdorferi transmission using LC-MS/MS. Tick saliva was collected using a non-invasive method of stimulating ticks (uninfected and infected: unfed, and every 12 h during feeding through 72 h, and fully-fed) to salivate into 2% pilocarpine-PBS for protein identification using LC-MS/MS.

Results

We identified a combined 747 tick saliva proteins of uninfected and B. burgdorferi infected ticks that were classifie

SUBMITTER: Kim TK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7930271 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature