Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T12:04:13.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Excretion of host immunoglobulin in tick saliva and detection of IgG-binding proteins in tick haemolymph and salivary glands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

H. Wang
Affiliation:
NERC Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR
P. A. Nuttall
Affiliation:
NERC Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR

Summary

Host immunoglobulin G (IgG) crossed the gut wall into the haemocoel of adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus female ticks when they fed on guinea-pigs. Guinea-pig IgG was also found in saliva of the feeding ticks. The concentration and antibody activity of IgG in haemolymph, salivary gland extract (SGE) and saliva at different stages of tick feeding were detected by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Specific activity of the IgG in tick samples was determined by feeding ticks on guinea-pigs which were immunized with killed Escherichia coli: 35–42% of the antibody activity in guinea-pig immune serum remained in the tick samples. The high relative concentration of IgG in tick saliva at later stages of feeding suggests that the tick may have a mechanism for getting rid of foreign proteins via the salivary gland. Such a mechanism could involve lgG binding proteins (1GBPs) which were found in both haemolymph and SGE of female ticks at day 6 of feeding using a guinea-pig IgG–agarose affinity column. In female ticks, the Mr of 1GBPs in SGE (23 and 57 kDa) were less than those in haemolymph (78 and > 100 kDa). The existence of 1GBPs in both the tick salivary gland and haemolymph indicate that haemolymph and salivary gland cooperate to remove foreign proteins, e.g. host immunoglobulin, from the body during feeding. This mechanism may be a part of the tick self-defence system.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ackerman, S., Clare, F. B., McGill, T. W. & Sonenshine, D. E. (1981). Passage of host serum components, including antibody, across the digestive tract of Dermacentor variabilis (Say). Journal of Parasitology 67, 737–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Azad, A. F., Vaughan, J. A. & Wirtz, R. A. (1989). Host anti-parasite IgG: transport across the gut epithelial lining, and its influence on the infectivity of arthropod vectors. In: Host Regulated Developmental Mechanisms in Vector Arthropods (ed. Borovsky, D. & Spielman, A.), pp. 163170. Florida, USA: University of Florida-IFAS.Google Scholar
Ben-Yakir, D., Fox, J. C., Homer, J. T. & Barker, R. W. (1986). Quantitative studies of host immunoglobulin G passage into the hemocoel of the tick Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis. In Morphology, Physiology and Behavioral Biology of Ticks (ed. Sauer, J. R. & Hair, J. A.), pp. 329341. Chichester, UK: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Booth, T. F., Davies, C. R., Jones, L. D., Staunton, D. & Nuttall, P. A. (1989). Anatomical basis of Thogoto virus infection in BHK cell culture and in the ixodid tick vector, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. Journal of General Virology 70, 1093–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brossard, M. & Rais, O. (1984). Passage of haemolysins through the midgut epithelium of female Ixodes ricinus L. fed on rabbits infected or reinfected with ticks. Experientia 40, 561–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chinzei, Y. & Minoura, H. (1987). Host immunoglobulin G titre and antibody activity in haemolymph of the tick, Ornithodoros moubata. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 1, 409–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fujisaki, K., Kamio, T. & Kitaoka, S. (1984). Passage of host serum components, including antibodies specific for Theileria sergenti, across the digestive tract of argasid and ixodid ticks. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 78, 449–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, E. L. V. & Angal, S. (1989). Protein purification methods. In Protein Purification. Oxford: IRL Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, W. R. (1986). Salivary gland degeneration in the female tick, Amblyomma hebraeum Koch (Acari: Ixodidae). In Morphology, Physiology and Behavioural Biology of Ticks (ed. Sauer, J. R. & Hair, J. A.), pp. 4654. Chichester, UK: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Kaufman, W. R. (1989). Tick-host interaction: a synthesis of current concepts. Parasitology Today 5, 4756.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, W. R., Aeschlimann, A. A. & Diehl, P. A. (1980). Regulation of body volume by salivation in a tick challenged with fluid loads. American Journal of Physiology 238, R102–R112.Google Scholar
Minoura, H., Chinzei, Y. & Kitamura, S. (1985). Ornithodoros moubata: host immunoglobulin G in tick haemolymph. Experimental Parasitology 60, 355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, S. Z., Voight, W. P. & Fujisaki, K. (1986). Tick antigens recognized by serum from a guinea pig resistant to infestation with the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. Journal of Parasitology 72, 4463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sonenshine, D. E. (1991). Biology of Ticks, Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tracey-Patte, P. D., Kemp, D. H. & Johnston, L. A. Y. (1987). Boophilus microplus: passage of bovine immunoglobulins and albumin across the gut of cattle ticks feeding on normal or vaccinated cattle. Research in Veterinary Science 43, 287–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Towbin, H., Staehelin, T. & Gordon, J. (1979). Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 76, 4350–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, H. & Nuttall, P. A. (1994). Comparison of the proteins in salivary glands, saliva and haemolymph of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus female ticks during feeding. Parasitology 109, 517523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed