Seixas Adriana, Oliveira Pedro, Termignoni Carlos, Logullo Carlos, Masuda Aoi, da Silva Vaz Itabajara
Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2012 Jul 15;148(1-2):149-56. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2011.05.011. Epub 2011 May 7.
Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is one of the most widely distributed tick in the world. The control of the parasite is based mainly on the use of chemical acaricides, which are produced from a limited set of molecules. These drugs induce selection of acaricide-resistant ticks, and are an important source of environmental pollution. An approach based on anti-tick vaccines may circumvent these obstacles. Characterization of the physiological function of tick molecules may be useful to develop new vaccines. Previously, we reported the ability of some tick proteins as inducers of protective immune response. Vaccination studies using tick proteins like native (nBYC), recombinant (rBYC) egg-yolk aspartic endopeptidase and cysteine endopeptidase (VTDCE) from R. microplus and glutathione S-transferase (Hl-GST) from Haemaphysalis longicornis demonstrated the immunogenicity and antigenicity of these proteins in bovines. Eventually, immunization with these proteins triggered a partial immune response against R. microplus infestation in cattle, manifested mainly as a reduction in egg fertility (7.7% and 13.9% for nBYC, 5.9% for rBYC; 4.7% for VTDCE, 7.9% for Hl-GST), and in the number of fully engorged ticks (18.2% for rBYC, 14.6% for VTDCE, 53% for Hl-GST). The data so far obtained suggest that these proteins have potential to be used as antigens in an anti-tick vaccine. Other proteins involved in tick embryogenesis also have this potential, like THAP and BmCl1, which are enzymes with key roles in vitellin and hemoglobin hydrolysis. Moreover, the identification of analogous proteins present in other tick species may bring information about the way to develop a vaccine against multiple tick species which can help to solve the problem faced by numerous countries where animals are parasitized by more than one tick species. The aim of the present review is to comprehensibly summarize the data obtained in the last few years by our collaborative research, discussing the efforts we have made to find antigens efficient enough for a cattle tick-controlling vaccine. This review discusses tick physiology studies aimed at the selection of possible targets, characterization of the selected proteins with emphasis on their biochemical and immunological aspects and results of vaccine trials on bovines.
微小牛蜱是世界上分布最广泛的蜱虫之一。对该寄生虫的控制主要基于使用化学杀螨剂，这些杀螨剂由有限的一组分子制成。这些药物会诱导产生抗杀螨剂的蜱虫，并且是环境污染的一个重要来源。基于抗蜱疫苗的方法可能会规避这些障碍。蜱虫分子生理功能的表征可能有助于开发新疫苗。此前，我们报道了一些蜱虫蛋白作为保护性免疫反应诱导剂的能力。使用来自微小牛蜱的天然（nBYC）、重组（rBYC）蛋黄天冬氨酸内肽酶和半胱氨酸内肽酶（VTDCE）以及来自长角血蜱的谷胱甘肽S - 转移酶（Hl - GST）等蜱虫蛋白进行的疫苗接种研究证明了这些蛋白在牛体内的免疫原性和抗原性。最终，用这些蛋白进行免疫引发了牛对微小牛蜱感染的部分免疫反应，主要表现为产卵量减少（nBYC为7.7%和13.9%，rBYC为5.9%；VTDCE为4.7%，Hl - GST为7.9%）以及饱血蜱虫数量减少（rBYC为18.2%，VTDCE为14.6%，Hl - GST为53%）。目前获得的数据表明，这些蛋白有潜力用作抗蜱疫苗中的抗原。其他参与蜱虫胚胎发育的蛋白也有这种潜力，如THAP和BmCl1，它们是在卵黄蛋白和血红蛋白水解中起关键作用的酶。此外，鉴定其他蜱虫物种中存在的类似蛋白可能会带来有关开发针对多种蜱虫物种疫苗方法的信息，这有助于解决许多国家面临的动物被多种蜱虫寄生的问题。本综述的目的是全面总结我们合作研究在过去几年中获得的数据，讨论我们为找到对控制牛蜱足够有效的抗原所做的努力。本综述讨论了旨在选择可能靶点的蜱虫生理学研究、对所选蛋白的表征（重点是其生化和免疫学方面）以及在牛身上进行的疫苗试验结果。
