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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #422979
Research Project: Management of Ticks of Veterinary Importance

Location: Livestock Arthropod Pest Research Unit

Title: Identification of Amblyomma americanum antigens after vaccination with tick extracellular vesicles in white-tailed deer

Author
item OLIVA-CHAVEZ, ADELA - University Of Wisconsin
item GONZALEZ-GONZALEZ, JULIA - Texas A&M University
item HARVEY, CHRISTINA - Texas A&M University
item RIBIERO-SILVA, CARITA - Federal University Of Goias
item LEAL-GALVAN, BRENDA - Texas A&M University
item PERSINGER, KELLY - Texas A&M Agrilife
item DURSKI, SARAH - University Of Wisconsin
item Olafson, Pia
item JOHNSON, TAMMI - Texas A&M Agrilife

Submitted to: bioRxiv
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/8/2025
Publication Date: 2/8/2025
Citation: Oliva-Chavez, A., Gonzalez-Gonzalez, J., Harvey, C., Ribiero-Silva, C., Leal-Galvan, B., Persinger, K.A., Durski, S., Olafson, P.U., Johnson, T.L. 2025. Identification of Amblyomma americanum antigens after vaccination with tick extracellular vesicles in white-tailed deer. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.03.636374.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.03.636374

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Anti-tick vaccines represent a promising alternative to chemical acaricides for the management of ticks on wildlife; however little progress has been made to produce a vaccine effective in reproductively relevant wild hosts, such as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD). To date, most of tick antigens have been tested using laboratory models (i.e. rabbits); however, their expression in wild hosts has not been confirmed. We recently tested Amblyomma americanum salivary (SG) and midgut (MG) extracellular vesicles (EVs) as vaccine candidates in WTD, which resulted in on-host female tick mortality. Using a proteomic approach, we show that these SG- and MG-EVs contain a “core-cargo” enriched in chaperones, small GTPases, actin and actin-related proteins, and other proteins previously reported in small EVs. Label-free quantitative proteomics showed significant differences in protein cargo between MG and SG-EVs (333 proteins out of 516). Pre-vaccinated and day 57 post-injection serum samples from three vaccinated and one control WTD were used to immunoprecipitate antigenic proteins from SG- and MG-EV preparations. Proteomic analysis of immune-precipitated proteins identified seven antigenic proteins that were considered as high priority for further testing. Additionally, two MG-EVs and 21 SG-EV proteins show antigenic potential. These proteins represent promising candidates for anti-tick vaccine design in WTD and other wildlife.