Folia Parasitologica 50[1] 79-84 (2003) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2003.014

Effect of fast protein liquid chromatography fractionated salivary gland extracts from different ixodid tick species on interleukin-8 binding to its cell receptors

Paulína Kocáková¹, Monika Sláviková¹, Valéria Hajnická¹, Mirko Slovák², Juraj Gašperík³, Iveta Vančová¹, Norbert Fuchsberger¹, Patricia A. Nuttall⁴

¹ Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 842 45 Bratislava, Slovakia

² Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 843 06 Bratislava, Slovakia

³ Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 21, 842 51 Bratislava, Slovakia

⁴ CEH Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK

Interleukin-8 plays a critical role in inflammatory processes. Hence generation of molecules with anti-IL-8 activity is likely to be important for successful feeding and for survival of the ticks. Anti-IL-8 activity was studied in saliva of three ixodid tick species - Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann, 1901, and Amblyomma variegatum (Fabricius, 1794). The greatest activity was shown in saliva prepared from D. reticulatus. The activity was attributed to tick salivary gland molecules that bind to IL-8, preventing binding of the chemokine to its specific receptor, rather than to occupation of the IL-8 cell receptor by the tick molecules. The distribution of anti-IL-8 activity in fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) fractions of salivary gland extracts (SGE) derived from adult female D. reticulatus, R. appendiculatus and A. variegatum was compared directly by both ELISA and receptor-binding inhibition assays. The correspondence in results with fractions of SGE from ELISA is consistent with detection of tick molecules that inhibit IL-8 binding to its receptor. As IL-8 is an important chemoattractant and activator of neutrophils, the presence of an anti-IL-8 activity in tick saliva indicates that neutrophils play an important role in the host response to parasitism by ticks.

Keywords: Dermacentor reticulatus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Amblyomma variegatum, interleukin-8, tick saliva, chemokine inhibitors tick species - Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius, 1794), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann, 1901, and Amblyomma

Received: May 2, 2002; Accepted: September 10, 2002; Published: March 1, 2003  Show citation