Abstract
Ticks are ectoparasites of wild and domestic animals and humans, and are considered to be the most important arthropod vector of pathogens in North America. Development of vaccines directed against tick proteins may effect reduction of tick infestations and transmission of tick-borne pathogens. The limiting step for the development of tick vaccines has been the identification of tick protective antigens. Reverse vaccinology approaches aimed at reducing animal experimentation while allowing for the rapid screening of pools of potential tick vaccine candidates would greatly facilitate progress towards the development of tick vaccines. Herein, we describe the screening of Ixodes scapularis cDNAs for identification of tick protective antigens using RNA interference (RNAi). The results of the RNAi screening were similar to those obtained previously using expression library immunization and demonstrated that RNAi could serve as a more rapid and cost-effective tool for vaccine antigen discovery in ticks and in other nonmodel organisms.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (project 1669), the Sitlington Endowed Chair for Food Animal Research (K. M. Kocan, Oklahoma State University). Consuelo Almazán was supported by Pfizer Animal Health, Kalamazoo, MI, and a grant-in-aid from the CONACYT and Promep (University of Tamaulipas), Mexico. V. Naranjo was founded by Consejería de Educación, JCCM, Spain. These experiments comply with the current laws of the U.S.A.
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de la Fuente, J., Almazán, C., Blouin, E.F. et al. RNA interference screening in ticks for identification of protective antigens. Parasitol Res 96, 137–141 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1351-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1351-5