Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum.
BACKGROUND:Tick feeding causes extreme morbidity and mortality to humans through transmission of pathogens and causes severe economic losses to the agricultural industry by reducing livestock yield. Salivary gland secretions are essential for tick feeding and thus, reducing or preventing saliva secr...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:83a08eeea74f427e982e385e69c92145 2023-05-15T15:12:39+02:00 Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. Zhilin Li Kevin R Macaluso Lane D Foil Daniel R Swale 2019-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/article/83a08eeea74f427e982e385e69c92145 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/article/83a08eeea74f427e982e385e69c92145 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 13, Iss 2, p e0007153 (2019) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 2022-12-31T09:21:49Z BACKGROUND:Tick feeding causes extreme morbidity and mortality to humans through transmission of pathogens and causes severe economic losses to the agricultural industry by reducing livestock yield. Salivary gland secretions are essential for tick feeding and thus, reducing or preventing saliva secretions into the vertebrate host is likely to reduce feeding and hinder pathogen life cycles. Unfortunately, the membrane physiology of tick salivary glands is underexplored and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel therapeutics for inducing cessation of tick feeding. METHODOLOGY:We studied the influence of inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channel subtypes to the functional capacity of the isolated tick salivary gland through the use of a modified Ramsay assay. The secreted saliva was subsequently used for quantification of the elemental composition of the secreted saliva after the glands were exposed to K+ channel modulators as a measure of osmoregulatory capacity. Lastly, changes to blood feeding behavior and mortality were measured with the use of a membrane feeding system. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this study, we characterized the fundamental role of Kir channel subtypes in tick salivary gland function and provide evidence that pharmacological inhibition of these ion channels reduces the secretory activity of the Amblyomma americanum salivary gland. The reduced secretory capacity of the salivary gland was directly correlated with a dramatic reduction of blood ingestion during feeding. Further, exposure to small-molecule modulators of Kir channel subtypes induced mortality to ticks that is likely resultant from an altered osmoregulatory capacity. CONCLUSIONS:Our data contribute to understanding of tick salivary gland function and could guide future campaigns aiming to develop chemical or reverse vaccinology technologies to reduce the worldwide burden of tick feeding and tick-vectored pathogens. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Lone ENVELOPE(11.982,11.982,65.105,65.105) Ramsay ENVELOPE(-44.733,-44.733,-60.733,-60.733) PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13 2 e0007153 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Zhilin Li Kevin R Macaluso Lane D Foil Daniel R Swale Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Tick feeding causes extreme morbidity and mortality to humans through transmission of pathogens and causes severe economic losses to the agricultural industry by reducing livestock yield. Salivary gland secretions are essential for tick feeding and thus, reducing or preventing saliva secretions into the vertebrate host is likely to reduce feeding and hinder pathogen life cycles. Unfortunately, the membrane physiology of tick salivary glands is underexplored and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel therapeutics for inducing cessation of tick feeding. METHODOLOGY:We studied the influence of inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channel subtypes to the functional capacity of the isolated tick salivary gland through the use of a modified Ramsay assay. The secreted saliva was subsequently used for quantification of the elemental composition of the secreted saliva after the glands were exposed to K+ channel modulators as a measure of osmoregulatory capacity. Lastly, changes to blood feeding behavior and mortality were measured with the use of a membrane feeding system. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this study, we characterized the fundamental role of Kir channel subtypes in tick salivary gland function and provide evidence that pharmacological inhibition of these ion channels reduces the secretory activity of the Amblyomma americanum salivary gland. The reduced secretory capacity of the salivary gland was directly correlated with a dramatic reduction of blood ingestion during feeding. Further, exposure to small-molecule modulators of Kir channel subtypes induced mortality to ticks that is likely resultant from an altered osmoregulatory capacity. CONCLUSIONS:Our data contribute to understanding of tick salivary gland function and could guide future campaigns aiming to develop chemical or reverse vaccinology technologies to reduce the worldwide burden of tick feeding and tick-vectored pathogens. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zhilin Li Kevin R Macaluso Lane D Foil Daniel R Swale |
author_facet |
Zhilin Li Kevin R Macaluso Lane D Foil Daniel R Swale |
author_sort |
Zhilin Li |
title |
Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
title_short |
Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
title_full |
Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
title_fullStr |
Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. |
title_sort |
inward rectifier potassium (kir) channels mediate salivary gland function and blood feeding in the lone star tick, amblyomma americanum. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/article/83a08eeea74f427e982e385e69c92145 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(11.982,11.982,65.105,65.105) ENVELOPE(-44.733,-44.733,-60.733,-60.733) |
geographic |
Arctic Lone Ramsay |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Lone Ramsay |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 13, Iss 2, p e0007153 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 https://doaj.org/article/83a08eeea74f427e982e385e69c92145 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007153 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e0007153 |
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1766343308091588608 |