Dataset Information

Identification of Amblyomma americanum antigens after vaccination with tick extracellular vesicles in white-tailed deer

ABSTRACT: Anti-tick vaccines represent a promising alternative to chemical acaricides for the management of ticks on wildlife; however little progress has been made to produce an effective vaccine in hosts relevant to tick reproduction. Further, most of the antigens described are expressed during feeding in domesticated hosts and may not activate the immune system in wild hosts. We recently tested Amblyomma americanum salivary (SG) and midgut (MG) extracellular vesicles (EVs) as vaccine candidates in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD), which resulted in on-host female tick mortality. Herein, we describe our efforts to identify the antigenic proteins found within these vesicles. Within both SG- and MG-EVs, an enriched “core- cargo” was identified within both SG- and MG-EVs, including chaperones, small GTPases, and other proteins previously reported in small EVs was discovered. Label-free quantitative proteomics showed significant differences in protein cargo between MG and SG-EVs (333 proteins out of 516). Serum from three vaccinated WTD (pre-vaccinated and day 57 post vaccination) and one control WTD was used to immunoprecipitated antigenic proteins from SG- and MG-EV preparations. Proteomic analysis of immunoprecipitated proteins identified seven antigenic proteins in SG-EVs and one in MG-EVs that were statistically significantly different from the pre-vaccinated serum. Moreover, these proteins were unique to vaccinated animals (not precipitated by control serums). Additionally, two MG-EVs and 24 SG-EV proteins show antigenic potential. These proteins represent promising candidates for anti-tick vaccine design in WTD and other wildlife.

INSTRUMENT(S):

ORGANISM(S): Odocoileus Virginianus Amblyomma Americanum

TISSUE(S): Saliva, Gut Juice

SUBMITTER: Brian Mooney

LAB HEAD: Adela Oliva Chávez

PROVIDER: PXD058874 | Pride | 2025-05-26

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
	20240401_101027_DIA-929_SG_4-1-24.sne	Other
	20240429_173047_Adela-IP-April2024.sne	Other
	924-PRE-MG1_2546.d.zip	Other
	924-PRE-MG2_2547.d.zip	Other
	924-PRE-SG1_2549.d.zip	Other

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Publications

Identification of Potential <i>Amblyomma americanum</i> Antigens After Vaccination with Tick Extracellular Vesicles in White-Tailed Deer.

Oliva Chávez Adela A Gonzalez Julia J Harvey Cristina C Ribeiro-Silva Cárita de Souza CS Leal-Galvan Brenda B Persinger Kelly A KA Durski Sarah S Olafson Pia U PU Johnson Tammi L TL

Vaccines 20250327 4

<h4>Background/objective</h4>Anti-tick vaccines represent a promising alternative to chemical acaricides for the management of ticks on wildlife; however, little progress has been made to produce a vaccine effective in wild hosts that are critical for tick reproduction, such as the white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>). We recently tested <i>Amblyomma americanum</i> salivary and midgut extracellular vesicles as vaccine candidates in white-tailed deer, which resulted in on-host female ...[more]

PMID: 40333200

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Project description:Ticks are blood feeding arthropod ectoparasites that transmit pathogens, which cause diseases in humans and animals worldwide. In the past ten decades, the continuous human exploitation of environmental resources and the increase in human outdoor activities has promoted contact with arthropod vectors normally present in the wild, resulting in increased transmission of vector-borne pathogens. In addition, vector populations are expanding in response to climate change and human interventions that impact reservoir host movement and human exposure to infected vectors. Among these emerging vector-borne pathogens, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae) has become an important tick-borne pathogen in the United States, Europe and Asia, with increasing numbers of infected people and animals every year. Diseases caused by A. phagocytophilum include human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), equine and canine granulocytic anaplasmosis and tick-borne fever (TBF) in ruminants. The natural infection cycle of A. phagocytophilum is dependent upon the presence of infected vertebrate reservoir hosts and Ixodid tick vectors. In the United States and Europe the main vector species are Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes pacificus, and Ixodes ricinus, while a wide range of mammals, lizards, and birds serve as reservoir hosts for various A. phagocytophilum genotypes. A. phagocytophilum initially infects tick midgut cells and then subsequently develops in salivary glands for transmission to susceptible hosts during tick feeding where the pathogen infects granulocytic cells, primarily neutrophils. Anaplasma phagocytophilum develops within membrane-bound inclusions in the host cell cytoplasm. This pathogen has evolved with its tick and vertebrate hosts through dynamic processes involving genetic traits of the pathogen and hosts that collectively mediate pathogen infection, development, persistence, and survival. However, the mechanisms used by A. phagocytophilum for molecular mechanisms involved in tick-pathogen interactions have not been fully characterized. The objective of this study is to characterize the dynamics of the microRNA response in the tick vector Ixodes scapularis in response to A. phagocytophilum infection. To address this objective, the composition of tick microRNAs was characterize using RNA sequencing in I. scapularis tick cells in response to A. phagocytophilum infection. The discovery of these mechanisms provides evidence that a control strategy could be developed targeted at both vertebrate and tick hosts for more complete control of A. phagocytophilum and its associated diseases.

Project description:Tick saliva contains many bioactive molecules that are involved in attachment to the host, blood feeding and transmission of pathogens. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs with a length of 19-24 nucleotides. They act as regulators of gene expression by binding to their target mRNA at the post-transcriptional level and control a variety of cellular functions, including regulation of growth, metabolism, and development. The detection and characterizations of miRNAs from tick saliva may help explain the molecular mechanisms involved in the interaction between ticks, pathogens, and hosts. They may also contribute to the discovery of vaccines, which can control ticks and the pathogens they transmit. An RNA library was generated from the saliva of fed adult Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks, and it contained 17.4 million clean reads of 18-30 nucleotides. Overall, 319 known miRNAs and 1 novel miRNA were found. The 10 most abundantly expressed miRNAs present in tick saliva were miR-100_2, miR-315, miR-184_1, miR-100-5p_2, miR-5307, miR-184-3p_3, Let-7-5p_6, miR-71_5, miR-1-3p_6, and miR-10-5p_2. The miR-375, one of the abundantly expressed, was subjected to Quantitative Real-Time PCR analysis (qRT-PCR) in various tick developmental stages, as well as in different tissues isolated from adult ticks. The expression of miR-375 in different tick development stages was highest in unfed nymphs and lowest in the egg stage. In the tissues of adult ticks, miR-375 was most highly expressed in the salivary gland. To investigate the possible role of miR-375, Ant-375 was used to inhibit the miR-375. Treated group (Ant-375) had a reduced number of eggs (t(10)= 2.652, P=0.0242), eggs that were partially desiccated, and reduced egg hatchability (t(10)=2.272, P=0.044) compared to Ms-Ant and the non-injected control. This is the first study to investigate the miRNAs profile in tick saliva and the role of miR-375 in H. longicornis. The identification and characterization of miRNA in tick saliva may help to reveal the molecular mechanisms of interactions among ticks, pathogens, and hosts and suggest new vaccine strategies to control tick borne diseases.

Project description:Background Human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis is an emerging life-threatening zoonosis caused by obligately intracellular bacterium, Ehrlichia chaffeensis. E. chaffeensis is transmitted by the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, and replicates in mononuclear phagocytes in mammalian hosts. Differences in the E. chaffeensis transcriptome in mammalian and arthropod hosts are unknown. Thus, we determined host-specific E. chaffeensis gene expression in human monocyte (THP-1) and in Amblyomma and Ixodes tick cell lines (AAE2 and ISE6) using a whole genome microarray. Methodology/Principal Findings The majority (~80%) of E. chaffeensis genes were expressed during infection in human and tick cells. There were few differences observed in E. chaffeensis gene expression between the vector Amblyomma and non-vector Ixodes tick cells, but extensive host-specific and differential gene expression profiles were detected between human and tick cells, including higher transcriptional activity in tick cells and identification of gene subsets that were differentially expressed in the two hosts. Differentially and host-specifically expressed ehrlichial genes encoded major immunoreactive tandem repeat proteins (TRP), the outer membrane protein (OMP-1) family, and hypothetical proteins that were 30–80 amino acids in length. Consistent with previous observations, high expression of p28 and OMP-1B genes was detected in human and tick cells, respectively. Notably, E. chaffeensis genes encoding TRP32 and TRP47 were highly upregulated in the human monocytes and expressed as proteins; however, although TRP transcripts were expressed in tick cells, the proteins were not detected in whole cell lysates demonstrating that TRP expression was post transcriptionally regulated. Conclusions/Significance Ehrlichia gene expression is highly active in tick cells, and differential gene expression among a wide variety of host-pathogen associated genes occurs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that genes associated with host-pathogen interactions are differentially expressed and regulated by post transcriptional mechanisms.

Dataset Information

Identification of Amblyomma americanum antigens after vaccination with tick extracellular vesicles in white-tailed deer

Dataset's files

Publications

Identification of Potential <i>Amblyomma americanum</i> Antigens After Vaccination with Tick Extracellular Vesicles in White-Tailed Deer.

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Dataset Information

Identification of Amblyomma americanum antigens after vaccination with tick extracellular vesicles in white-tailed deer

Dataset's files

Publications

Identification of Potential &lt;i&gt;Amblyomma americanum&lt;/i&gt; Antigens After Vaccination with Tick Extracellular Vesicles in White-Tailed Deer.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Identification of Potential <i>Amblyomma americanum</i> Antigens After Vaccination with Tick Extracellular Vesicles in White-Tailed Deer.