A NONHUMAN PRIMATE MODEL OF TICK IMMUNITY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The tick Ixodes scapularis is an important vector for pathogens responsible for Lyme disease, rickettsial disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and tick-borne encephalitis. There is an unmet need for safe and effective vaccines against these pathogens. Vaccines directed against the tick vector would potentially target multiple pathogens transmitted by the tick. During the process of obtaining a blood meal, ticks transmit the pathogens they harbor. Tick salivary gland components are involved in the establishment and regulation of tick feeding as well as pathogen transmission. Immunity directed against these salivary components may block tick feeding and pathogen transmission. However defining these crucial salivary components remains a daunting task and a tick vaccine, elusive. Acquired tick immunity is a phenomenon whereby the vertebrate host, upon repeated tick infestation, effectively rejects ticks within 12-24 hours after tick attachment and also blocks pathogen transmission. Host immunity directed against crucial tick salivary antigens presumably plays a pivotal role in tick rejection and in the consequent impairment of pathogen transmission. Defining tick salivary antigens that elicit tick immunity provides an approach to identify 'the' crucial tick salivary antigens that can serve as vaccine targets to thwart tick feeding and to block pathogen transmission. The focus of this pilot proposal is to assess acquired tick-immunity in non-human primate (NHP) in the context of transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. An animal model that demonstrates both tick immunity and Lyme disease does not currently exist. We hypothesize that the NHP may serve as such an animal model. Proving this hypothesis would clearly enhance studies aimed at defining tick salivary antigens that are crucial for eliciting tick-immunity and for pathogen transmission.