Investigation and characterization of secondary functions of ribosomal proteins from the tick Rhipicephalus microplus

• Grant number: 23/06523-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Aparecida Sadae Tanaka
• Grantee: Gabriel Furtado Goulart
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/03779-5 - Use of Phage display as a tool in the diagnosis and control of diseases transmitted by hematophagous vectors., AP.TEM

Abstract

The Rhipicephalus microplus tick belongs to the Ixodidae family and is the main cattle's ectoparasite in Brazil, as well as in other countries from tropical and subtropical regions. Moreover, this specie is a vector involved in the transmission of pathogens which cause the clinic symptoms known as ''tristeza parasitária bovina''. R. microplus parasitism leads to great economical losses in Brazil, over than 3 billion dollars every year. The tick control has been a challenge, since the most utilized method, by chemical acaricides, are commonly associated with several drawbacks, like products and environment contaminations. Besides that, these products can select resistant tick strains. The search for alternative control strategies has been done for many research groups in Brazil and other countries and the anti-tick vaccines are the most studied. However, until the present moment, there are not efficient vaccines for Brazilian tick's populations. Then, tick antigens identification is extremely important to anti-tick vaccines development. Recently at our laboratory, we have identified some immunogenic targets through the phage display technique, using a salivary glands' cDNA library. Among the identified targets, was the ribosomal protein S18, which was functionally characterized and presented a secondary activity, as an antimicrobial protein. Based in these data, the present project has the following objectives: Identify and characterize different ribosomal proteins from R. microplus with potential to be applied in tick control strategies using molecular biology techniques such as conventional PCR, quantitative PCR and genic silencing. Additionally, the recombinant proteins will be expressed and functionally characterized.