The Use of Tick Salivary Proteins as Novel Therapeutics.

Jindřich Chmelař,Michail Kotsyfakis,Anna Kovaříková,Jan Kotál

doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00812

Abstract

The last three decades of research into tick salivary components have revealed several proteins with important pharmacological and immunological activities. Two primary interests have driven research into tick salivary secretions: the search for suitable pathogen transmission blocking or “anti-tick” vaccine candidates and the search for novel therapeutics derived from tick salivary components. Intensive basic research in the field of tick salivary gland transcriptomics and proteomics has identified several major protein families that play important roles in tick feeding and overcoming vertebrate anti-tick responses. Moreover, these families contain members with unrealized therapeutic potential. Here we review the major tick salivary protein families exploitable in medical applications such as immunomodulation, inhibition of hemostasis and inflammation. Moreover, we discuss the potential, opportunities, and challenges in searching for novel tick-derived drugs.

Highlights

The data being generated in the high-throughput era are rapidly shifting research and development efforts toward novel and precise therapeutics that target specific pathological mechanisms and populations and diminish harmful side-effects (Paul et al, 2010; Jorgensen, 2011)
The best characterized tick salivary protein with a direct effect on T cells is Salp15 from I. scapularis (Anguita et al, 2002), a member of a large family of heavily glycosylated proteins that seem to be unique to prostriate ticks such as Ixodes spp. (Wang et al, 2014)
The preceding discussion highlights that tick salivary proteins can target every possible immune mechanism and have the potential to be used as drugs, especially against disorders of hemostasis, immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, and against tumor growth

Summary

Introduction

The data being generated in the high-throughput era are rapidly shifting research and development efforts toward novel and precise therapeutics that target specific pathological mechanisms and populations and diminish harmful side-effects (Paul et al, 2010; Jorgensen, 2011). We review tick salivary protein families with potential for medical use, and in doing so we highlight that tick salivary secretions represent a unique source of novel drugs that are only just starting to be exploited and translated for clinical benefit. TICK SALIVARY PROTEIN FAMILIES WITH THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL

Results

Conclusion