Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Saliva, Salivary Gland, and Hemolymph Collection from Ixodes scapularis Ticks
Published on: February 21, 2012
Identification of candidate sialome components expressed in ixodid tick salivary glands using secretion signal
Ixodid ticks manipulate mammalian host pathways by secreting molecules from salivary glands. Novel cDNAs containing functional secretion signals were isolated from ixodid tick salivary glands using a signal sequence trap. Only 15/61 Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and 1/7 Amblyomma variegatum cDNAs had significant identity (< 1e-15) to previously identified sequences. Polypeptides that may interact with host pathways included a kinase inhibitor. Two proteins encoded homologues of the yolk protein vitellogenin and seventeen contained glycine-rich motifs. Four proteins without sequence matches had conserved structural folds, identified using a Threading algorithm. Predicted secretion signals were between fifteen and fifty-seven amino acids long. Four homologous polymorphic proteins contained conserved (26/27 residues) signal peptides. Ten functional tick secretion signals could not be unambiguously identified using predictive algorithms.
Ixodid ticks manipulate mammalian host pathways by secreting molecules from salivary glands. Novel cDNAs containing functional secretion signals were isolated from ixodid tick salivary glands using a signal sequence trap. Only 15/61 Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and 1/7 Amblyomma variegatum cDNAs had significant identity (< 1e-15) to previously identified sequences. Polypeptides that may interact with host pathways included a kinase inhibitor. Two proteins encoded homologues of the yolk protein vitellogenin and seventeen contained glycine-rich motifs. Four proteins without sequence matches had conserved structural folds, identified using a Threading algorithm. Predicted secretion signals were between fifteen and fifty-seven amino acids long. Four homologous polymorphic proteins contained conserved (26/27 residues) signal peptides. Ten functional tick secretion signals could not be unambiguously identified using predictive algorithms.
