Molecular Biology Commons^™

Investigating The Involvement Of The Tick Vector In The Induction Of Alpha-Galactose Hypersensitivity (Alpha-Gal Syndrome, Red Meat Allergy) In The United States., Gary Crispell

Dissertations

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS or sometimes called red meat allergy) is a result of the development of specific IgE antibodies to the oligosaccharide galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-gal) after a person has had exposure to tick bites. This dissertation investigates four common tick species found in North America: the lone-star tick (Amblyomma americanum), the Gulf-Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum), the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), and the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) for the presence of α-gal by utilizing a combination of immunoproteomic approaches and carbohydrate analysis techniques.

Anti-α-gal IgM antibodies (M86) were used in immunoblotting to detect …

Investigating The Functional Role Of Tick Antioxidants In Hematophagy And Vector Competence, Deepak Kumar

Dissertations

Ticks are obligate hematophagous arthropods and harbor several pathogens which transmit various diseases to humans and their domesticated animals. Host blood- digestion in a tick midgut (MG) generates several reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are extremely toxic to essential macromolecules (e.g. DNA, proteins, and lipids) within the cell, resulting in high oxidative stress. Thus, this dissertation focuses on the questions of how tick homeostasis responds to high oxidative stress, and how ticks and their harbored pathogens survive the high surge of oxidative stress during blood digestion. We are specifically interested in the tick-pathogen, Rickettsia parkeri (R. parkeri, Rp), harbored by …

Characterization Of Glycine Rich Proteins From The Salivary Glands Of The Lone Star Tick Amblyomma Americanum, Rebekah Lynn Bullard

Dissertations

Ticks are blood sucking arthropods that feed on living hosts for up to three weeks. The ticks secrete a multitude of pharmacologically active proteins into the host during feeding which allow the tick to avoid the host immune response, establish a blood pool, and form a firm attachment. The firm attachment is facilitated by the formation of a cement cone which surrounds the tick mouthparts and intertwine between the host skin layers. In this study, gene expression of 44 A. americanum genes was measured throughout the bloodmeal to reveal the differential expression of these genes. Each of the genes tested …