Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Department of Advanced Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Parasitology. 2022 Jan;149(1):105-115. doi: 10.1017/S0031182021001608. Epub 2021 Sep 10.
Poultry red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae, PRM) are dangerous ectoparasites that infest chickens and threaten the poultry industry worldwide. PRMs usually develop resistance to chemical acaricides, necessitating the development of more effective preventive agents, and vaccination could be an alternative strategy for controlling PRMs. The suitability of plasma membrane proteins expressed in the midguts as vaccine antigens was evaluated because these molecules are exposed to antibodies in the ingested blood and the binding of antibodies could potentially induce direct damage to midgut tissue and indirect damage via inhibition of the functions of target molecules. Therefore, in the present study, a copper transporter 1-like molecule (Dg-Ctr1) was identified and its efficacy as a vaccine antigen was assessed in vitro. Dg-Ctr1 mRNA was expressed in the midguts and ovaries and in all the life stages, and flow cytometric analysis indicated that Dg-Ctr1 was expressed on the plasma membrane. Importantly, nymphs fed on plasma derived from chickens immunized with the recombinant protein of the extracellular region of Dg-Ctr1 showed a significant reduction in the survival rate. These data indicate that the application of Dg-Ctr1 as a vaccine antigen could reduce the number of nymphs in the farms, contributing to reduction in the economic losses caused by PRMs in the poultry industry. To establish an effective vaccination strategy, the acaricidal effects of the combined use of Dg-Ctr1 with chemical acaricides or other vaccine antigens must be examined.
家禽红螨（Dermanyssus gallinae，PRM）是一种危险的外寄生虫，侵袭鸡并威胁着全球家禽业。PRM 通常对化学杀螨剂产生抗药性，因此需要开发更有效的预防剂，而疫苗接种可能是控制 PRM 的替代策略。本研究评估了中肠表达的质膜蛋白作为疫苗抗原的适用性，因为这些分子暴露于摄入的血液中的抗体，抗体的结合可能会对中肠组织造成直接损伤，并通过抑制靶分子的功能造成间接损伤。因此，本研究鉴定了一种铜转运蛋白 1 样分子（Dg-Ctr1），并评估了其作为疫苗抗原的功效。Dg-Ctr1 mRNA 在中肠和卵巢以及所有生命阶段表达，流式细胞术分析表明 Dg-Ctr1 表达在质膜上。重要的是，用重组蛋白免疫后的鸡血浆喂养的若螨的存活率显著降低。这些数据表明，应用 Dg-Ctr1 作为疫苗抗原可以减少农场中若螨的数量，有助于减少家禽业中 PRM 造成的经济损失。为了建立有效的疫苗接种策略，必须研究 Dg-Ctr1 与化学杀螨剂或其他疫苗抗原联合使用的杀螨效果。
