Epitope mapping of salivary proteins of Rhipicephalus microplus for the development of a multicomponent vaccine

• Grant number: 17/14297-6
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Immunology
• Principal Investigator: Isabel Kinney Ferreira de Miranda Santos
• Grantee: Luiz Gustavo Nogueira de Almeida
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/09683-9 - Development of a recombinant multicomponent chimeric vaccine based in protein epitopes from Rhipicephalus microplus ticks, AP.TEM

Abstract

Ticks are obligatory hematophagous arthropods and very important disease carriers. Besides the diseases transmitted by ticks, the infestation on bovines generates significant loss in livestock profits, in Brazil and over the world. The current control of this parasite employs acaricides, which present problems by selecting resistant ticks besides contaminating meat and milk. Thus, several anti-tick vaccines are under development, in addition to the use of in silico techniques that aim to shorten the path in the search for new antigens. This project will employ in silico techniques in the search for epitopes, and will map the humoral response in vitro to epitopes of a vaccine developed in our laboratory. The first stage starts with bioinformatics techniques that will be used to perform the prediction of B cell epitopes. Next, the epitopes that activate the humoral immune response of vaccinated cattle will be mapped using the phage display technique. Finally, the data generated by in silico techniques can be compared with those generated by the in vitro technique, allowing the validation of human databases when applied to cattle and resulting in a more complete mapping of the immunogenic epitopes in vaccinated animals.