Abstract
Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) continuously causing substantial losses to the public and veterinary health sectors. The identification of putative drug targets and vaccine candidates is crucial to control TBPs. No information has been recorded on designing novel drug targets and vaccine candidates based on proteins. Subtractive proteomics is an in silico approach that utilizes extensive screening for the identification of novel drug targets or vaccine candidates based on the determination of potential target proteins available in a pathogen proteome that may be used effectively to control diseases caused by these infectious agents. The present study aimed to investigate novel drug targets and vaccine candidates by utilizing subtractive proteomics to scan the available proteomes of TBPs and predict essential and non-host homologous proteins required for the survival of these diseases causing agents. Subtractive proteome analysis revealed a list of fifteen essential, non-host homologous, and unique metabolic proteins in the complete proteome of selected pathogens. Among these therapeutic target proteins, three were excluded due to the presence in host gut metagenome, eleven were found to be highly potential drug targets, while only one was found as a potential vaccine candidate against TBPs. The present study may provide a foundation to design potential drug targets and vaccine candidates for the effective control of infections caused by TBPs.
Highlights
Ticks are ectoparasites and notorious vectors for disease-causing pathogens that transmit various arboviruses, bacteria, and protozoans to vertebrate hosts adversely affecting the livestock industry and public health [1,2,3,4]
The objective of the current study was to predict novel drug targets and vaccine candidates based on subtractive proteomics approach against B. burgdorferi
Subtractive proteomics is a rapid approach for the screening of drug targets and vaccine candidates against a pathogen provided both the pathogen and host proteomes are available
Summary
Ticks are ectoparasites and notorious vectors for disease-causing pathogens that transmit various arboviruses, bacteria, and protozoans to vertebrate hosts adversely affecting the livestock industry and public health [1,2,3,4]. Some of the tick-borne pathogens (TBPs), such as bacteria (Rickettsia rickettsii, Francisella tularensis, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdorferi), Vet. Sci. 2020, 7, 129 protozoans (Babesia spp., Theileria spp.), and viruses (Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus), cause a variety of diseases in infected hosts [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. The emergence and re-emergence of several TBPs pose public and veterinary health risks Human and animal movements associated with environmental changes have favored the dispersal of ticks and TBPs [12,13].
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