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PUBLICATIONS

Explore recent literature about Tick Immunity from our team.
Continue further below for some featured early findings from this project, as also seen on the Results page.

Articles & Reviews:

Hart TM, Sonnert ND, Tang X, Chaurasia R, Allen PE, Hunt JR, Read CB, Johnson EE, Arora G, Dai Y, Cui Y, Chuang YM, Yu Q, Rahman MS, Mendes MT, Rolandelli A, Singh P, Tripathi AK, Ben Mamoun C, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD, Lin YP, Fingerle V, Margos G, Pal U, Johnson RM, Pedra JHF, Azad AF, Salje J, Dimopoulos G, Vinetz JM, Carlyon JA, Palm NW, Fikrig E, Ring AM. An atlas of human vector-borne microbe interactions reveals pathogenicity mechanisms. Cell. 2024 Jul 25;187(15):4113-4127.e13. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.05.023. PMID: 38876107.

Samaddar S, Rolandelli A, O'Neal AJ, Laukaitis-Yousey HJ, Marnin L, Singh N, Wang X, Butler LR, Rangghran P, Kitsou C, Cabrera Paz FE, Valencia L, R Ferraz C, Munderloh UG, Khoo B, Cull B, Rosche KL, Shaw DK, Oliver J, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E, Pal U, Fiskum GM, Polster BM, Pedra JHF. Bacterial reprogramming of tick metabolism impacts vector fitness and susceptibility to infection. Nat Microbiol. 2024 Jul 12. doi: 10.1038/s41564-024-01756-0. PMID: 38997520.

Rolandelli A, Laukaitis-Yousey HJ, Bogale HN, Singh N, Samaddar S, O'Neal AJ, Ferraz CR, Butnaru M, Mameli E, Xia B, Mendes MT, Butler LR, Marnin L, Cabrera Paz FE, Valencia LM, Rana VS, Skerry C, Pal U, Mohr SE, Perrimon N, Serre D, Pedra JHF. Tick hemocytes have a pleiotropic role in microbial infection and arthropod fitness. Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 8;15(1):2117. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-46494-3. PMID: 38459063; PMCID: PMC10923820.

Singh N, Rolandelli A, O'Neal AJ, Butler LR, Samaddar S, Laukaitis-Yousey HJ, Butnaru M, Mohr SE, Perrimon N, Pedra JHF. Genetic manipulation of an Ixodes scapularis cell line. mBio. 2024 Mar 13;15(3):e0247923. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02479-23. PMID: 38380961; PMCID: PMC10936194.

Butler LR, Singh N, Marnin L, Valencia LM, O'Neal AJ, Paz FEC, Shaw DK, Chavez ASO, Pedra JHF. The role of Rab27 in tick extracellular vesicle biogenesis and pathogen infection. Parasit Vectors. 2024 Feb 9;17(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06150-7. PMID: 38336752; PMCID: PMC10854084.

Matias J, Cui Y, Lynn GE, DePonte K, Mesquita E, Muramatsu H, Alameh MG, Dwivedi G, Tam YK, Pardi N, Weissman D, Fikrig E. mRNA vaccination of rabbits alters the fecundity, but not the attachment, of adult Ixodes scapularis. Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 4;14(1):496. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50389-6. PMID: 38177212; PMCID: PMC10766947.

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Yaş OB, Coleman AS, Lipman RM, Sharma K, Raghunandanan S, Alanazi F, Rana VS, Kitsou C, Yang X, Pal U. A systemic approach to identify non-abundant immunogenic proteins in Lyme disease pathogens. mSystems. 2024 Jan 23;9(1):e0108723. doi: 10.1128/msystems.01087-23. PMID: 38078774; PMCID: PMC10805064.

Cui Y, Matias J, Tang X, Cibichakravarthy B, DePonte K, Wu MJ, Fikrig E. Metabolomic changes associated with acquired resistance to Ixodes scapularis. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2024 Jan;15(1):102279. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102279. PMID: 37972499.

Scott AJ, Smith AA, Heeren RMA, Pal U, Ernst RK. Characterization of spatial lipidomic signatures in tick-bitten guinea pig skin as a model for host-vector-pathogen interaction profiling. mSystems. 2023 Dec 21;8(6):e0092723. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00927-23. PMID: 37874165; PMCID: PMC10734475.

Tang X, Lynn GE, Cui Y, Cerny J, Arora G, Tomayko MM, Craft J, Fikrig E. Bulk and single-nucleus RNA sequencing highlight immune pathways induced in individuals during an Ixodes scapularis tick bite. Infect Immun. 2023 Nov 16;91(11):e0028223. doi: 10.1128/iai.00282-23. PMID: 37846980; PMCID: PMC10652856.

Foor SD, Brangulis K, Shakya AK, Rana VS, Bista S, Kitsou C, Ronzetti M, Alreja AB, Linden SB, Altieri AS, Baljinnyam B, Akopjana I, Nelson DC, Simeonov A, Herzberg O, Caimano MJ, Pal U. A unique borrelial protein facilitates microbial immune evasion. mBio. 2023 Oct 31;14(5):e0213523. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02135-23. PMID: 37830812; PMCID: PMC10653885.

Butler LR, Gonzalez J, Pedra JHF, Oliva Chavez AS. Tick extracellular vesicles in host skin immunity and pathogen transmission. Trends Parasitol. 2023 Oct;39(10):873-885. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.07.009. PMID: 37591719; PMCID: PMC10528898.

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Tang X, Cao Y, Booth CJ, Arora G, Cui Y, Matias J, Fikrig E. Adiponectin in the mammalian host influences ticks' acquisition of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia. PLoS Biol. 2023 Oct 20;21(10):e3002331. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002331. PMID: 37862360; PMCID: PMC10619873.

Narasimhan S, Fish D, Pedra JHF, Pal U, Fikrig E. A ticking time bomb hidden in plain sight. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Oct 18;15(718):eadi7829. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adi7829. PMID: 37851823.

Forrest IS, O'Neal AJ, Pedra JHF, Do R. Cholesterol Contributes to Risk, Severity, and Machine Learning-Driven Diagnosis of Lyme Disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Sep 18;77(6):839-847. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad307. PMID: 37227948; PMCID: PMC10506776.

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Pine M, Arora G, Hart TM, Bettini E, Gaudette BT, Muramatsu H, Tombácz I, Kambayashi T, Tam YK, Brisson D, Allman D, Locci M, Weissman D, Fikrig E, Pardi N. Development of an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine against Lyme disease. Mol Ther. 2023 Sep 6;31(9):2702-2714. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.07.022. PMID: 37533256; PMCID: PMC10492027.

Matias J, Cui Y, Tang X, Sajid A, Arora G, Wu MJ, DePonte K, Muramatsu H, Tam YK, Narasimhan S, Pardi N, Weissman D, Fikrig E. Specific mRNA lipid nanoparticles and acquired resistance to ticks. Vaccine. 2023 Jul 31;41(34):4996-5002. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.06.081. PMID: 37407406; PMCID: PMC10530371.

Rana VS, Kitsou C, Dutta S, Ronzetti MH, Zhang M, Bernard Q, Smith AA, Tomás-Cortázar J, Yang X, Wu MJ, Kepple O, Li W, Dwyer JE, Matias J, Baljinnyam B, Oliver JD, Rajeevan N, Pedra JHF, Narasimhan S, Wang Y, Munderloh U, Fikrig E, Simeonov A, Anguita J, Pal U. Dome1-JAK-STAT signaling between parasite and host integrates vector immunity and development. Science. 2023 Jan 13;379(6628):eabl3837. doi: 10.1126/science.abl3837. PMID: 36634189; PMCID: PMC10122270.

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O'Neal AJ, Singh N, Rolandelli A, Laukaitis HJ, Wang X, Shaw DK, Young BD, Narasimhan S, Dutta S, Snyder GA, Samaddar S, Marnin L, Butler LR, Mendes MT, Cabrera Paz FE, Valencia LM, Sundberg EJ, Fikrig E, Pal U, Weber DJ, Pedra JHF. Croquemort elicits activation of the immune deficiency pathway in ticks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 May 16;120(20):e2208673120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2208673120. PMID: 37155900; PMCID: PMC10193931.

De S, Kingan SB, Kitsou C, Portik DM, Foor SD, Frederick JC, Rana VS, Paulat NS, Ray DA, Wang Y, Glenn TC, Pal U. A high-quality Ixodes scapularis genome advances tick science. Nat Genet. 2023 Feb;55(2):301-311. doi: 10.1038/s41588-022-01275-w. PMID: 36658436. [Full access to article: https://rdcu.be/c3M2V]

Rana VS, Kitsou C, Dumler JS, Pal U. Immune evasion strategies of major tick-transmitted bacterial pathogens. Trends Microbiol. 2023 Jan;31(1):62-75. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.08.002. PMID: 36055896; PMCID: PMC9772108.

Tang X, Arora G, Matias J, Hart T, Cui Y, Fikrig E. A tick C1q protein alters infectivity of the Lyme disease agent by modulating interferon γ. Cell Rep. 2022 Nov 22;41(8):111673. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111673. PMID: 36417869; PMCID: PMC9909562.

Couret J, Schofield S, Narasimhan, S. The environment, the tick, and the pathogen – It is an ensemble. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Nov 2; 12:1049646. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1049646. PMID: 36405964; PMCID: PMC9666722.

Narasimhan S, Rajeevan N, Graham M, Wu MJ, DePonte K, Marion S, Masson O, O'Neal AJ, Pedra JHF, Sonenshine DE, Fikrig E. Tick transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi to the murine host is not influenced by environmentally acquired midgut microbiota. Microbiome. 2022 Oct 17;10(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s40168-022-01378-w. PMID: 36253842; PMCID: PMC9575305.​

Lynn GE, Černý J, Kurokawa C, Diktaş H, Matias J, Sajid A, Arora G, DePonte K, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E. Immunization of guinea pigs with cement extract induces resistance against Ixodes scapularis ticks. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2022 Aug 6;13(6):102017. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2022.102017. PMID: 35963188.

Thakur M, Bista S, Foor SD, Dutta S, Yang X, Ronzetti M, Rana VS, Kitsou C, Linden SB, Altieri AS, Baljinnyam B, Nelson DC, Simeonov A, Pal U. Controlled Proteolysis of an Essential Virulence Determinant Dictates Infectivity of Lyme Disease Pathogens. Infect Immun. 2022 May 19;90(5):e0005922. doi: 10.1128/iai.00059-22. PMID: 35416705; PMCID: PMC9119094.

Arora G, Hart T, Fikrig E. Use of host lipids by the Lyme disease spirochete may lead to biomarkers. J Clin Invest. 2022 Mar 15;132(6):e158254. doi: 10.1172/JCI158254. PMID: 35289311; PMCID: PMC8920323.

Matias J, Kurokawa C, Sajid A, Narasimhan S, Arora G, Diktas H, Lynn GE, DePonte K, Pardi N, Valenzuela JG, Weissman D, Fikrig E. Tick immunity using mRNA, DNA and protein-based Salp14 delivery strategies. Vaccine. 2021 Dec 20;39(52):7661-7668. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.11.003. PMID: 34862075; PMCID: PMC8671329.

Sajid A, Matias J, Arora G, Kurokawa C, DePonte K, Tang X, Lynn G, Wu MJ, Pal U, Strank NO, Pardi N, Narasimhan S, Weissman D, Fikrig E. mRNA vaccination induces tick resistance and prevents transmission of the Lyme disease agent. Sci Transl Med. 2021 Nov 17;13(620):eabj9827. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj9827. PMID: 34788080.

Tang X, Cao Y, Arora G, Hwang J, Sajid A, Brown CL, Mehta S, Marín-López A, Chuang YM, Wu MJ, Ma H, Pal U, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E. The Lyme disease agent co-opts adiponectin receptor-mediated signaling in its arthropod vector. Elife. 2021 Nov 16;10:e72568. doi: 10.7554/eLife.72568. PMID: 34783654; PMCID: PMC8639152..

Kitsou C, Foor SD, Dutta S, Bista S, Pal U. Tick gut barriers impacting tick-microbe interactions and pathogen persistence. Mol Microbiol. 2021 Nov;116(5):1241-1248. doi: 10.1111/mmi.14822. PMID: 34570926; PMCID: PMC8599643.

 

Narasimhan S, Swei A, Abouneameh S, Pal U, Pedra JHF, Fikrig E. Grappling with the tick microbiome. Trends Parasitol. 2021 Aug;37(8):722-733. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.04.004. PMID: 33962878; PMCID: PMC8282638.

Kitsou C, Fikrig E, Pal U. Tick host immunity: vector immunomodulation and acquired tick resistance. Trends Immunol. 2021 Jul;42(7):554-574. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2021.05.005. PMID: 34074602; PMCID: PMC10089699.

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Oliva Chávez AS, Wang X, Marnin L, Archer NK, Hammond HL, Carroll EEM, Shaw DK, Tully BG, Buskirk AD, Ford SL, Butler LR, Shahi P, Morozova K, Clement CC, Lawres L, Neal AJO, Mamoun CB, Mason KL, Hobbs BE, Scoles GA, Barry EM, Sonenshine DE, Pal U, Valenzuela JG, Sztein MB, Pasetti MF, Levin ML, Kotsyfakis M, Jay SM, Huntley JF, Miller LS, Santambrogio L, Pedra JHF.  Tick extracellular vesicles enable arthropod feeding and promote distinct outcomes of bacterial infection.  Nat Commun. 2021 Jun 17;12(1):3696. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23900-8. PMID: 34140472; PMCID: PMC8211691.

Narasimhan S, Kurokawa C, DeBlasio M, Matias J, Sajid A, Pal U, Lynn G, Fikrig E. Acquired tick resistance: The trail is hot. Parasite Immunol. 2021 May;43(5):e12808. doi: 10.1111/pim.12808. PMID: 33187012; PMCID: PMC8058238.

O'Neal AJ, Singh N, Mendes MT, Pedra JHF. The genus Anaplasma: drawing back the curtain on tick-pathogen interactions. Pathog Dis. 2021 Apr 22;79(5):ftab022. doi: 10.1093/femspd/ftab022. PMID: 33792663; PMCID: PMC8062235.

Koči J, Bista S, Chirania P, Yang X, Kitsou C, Rana VS, Yas OB, Sonenshine DE, Pal U. Antibodies against EGF-like domains in Ixodes scapularis BM86 orthologs impact tick feeding and survival of Borrelia burgdorferi. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 17;11(1):6095. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85624-5. PMID: 33731754; PMCID: PMC7971074.

Yang X, Koči J, Smith AA, Zhuang X, Sharma K, Dutta S, Rana VS, Kitsou C, Yas OB, Mongodin EF, Pal U. A novel tick protein supports integrity of gut peritrophic matrix impacting existence of gut microbiome and Lyme disease pathogens. Cell Microbiol. 2021 Feb; 23(2):e13275. doi: 10.1111/cmi.13275. PMID: 33006213; PMCID: PMC9038076.

De S, Kitsou C, Sonenshine DE, Pedra JHF, Fikrig E, Kassis JA, Pal U. Epigenetic regulation of tick biology and vectorial capacity. Trends Genet. 2021 Jan;37(1):8-11. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2020.09.012. PMID: 33020021; PMCID: PMC8008791.

Pal U, Kitsou C, Drecktrah D, Yaş ÖB, Fikrig E. Interactions Between Ticks and Lyme Disease Spirochetes. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2021; 42:113-144. doi: 10.21775/cimb.042.113. PMID: 33289683; PMCID: PMC8045411.

Černý J, Lynn G, DePonte K, Ledizet M, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E. Fractionation of tick saliva reveals proteins associated with the development of acquired resistance to Ixodes scapularis. Vaccine. 2020 Dec 3;38(51):8121-8129. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.10.087. PMID: 33168347.

Cao Y, Rosen C, Arora G, Gupta A, Booth CJ, Murfin KE, Cerny J, Marin Lopez A, Chuang YM, Tang X, Pal U, Ring A, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E. An Ixodes scapularis Protein Disulfide Isomerase Contributes to Borrelia burgdorferi Colonization of the Vector. Infect Immun. 2020 Nov 16;88(12):e00426-20. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00426-20. PMID: 32928964; PMCID: PMC7671890.

 

Gupta A, Arora G, Rosen CE, Kloos Z, Cao Y, Cerny J, Sajid A, Hoornstra D, Golovchenko M, Rudenko N, Munderloh U, Hovius JW, Booth CJ, Jacobs-Wagner C, Palm NW, Ring AM, Fikrig E. A human secretome library screen reveals a role for Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein 1 in Lyme borreliosis. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Nov 11;16(11):e1009030. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009030. PMID: 33175909; PMCID: PMC7657531.

 

Kurokawa C, Narasimhan S, Vidyarthi A, Booth CJ, Mehta S, Meister L, Diktas H, Strank N, Lynn GE, DePonte K, Craft J, Fikrig E. Repeat tick exposure elicits distinct immune responses in guinea pigs and mice. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2020 Nov;11(6):101529. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101529. PMID: 32993942; PMCID: PMC7530331.

 

O'Neal AJ, Butler LR, Rolandelli A, Gilk SD, Pedra JH. Lipid hijacking: a unifying theme in vector-borne diseases. Elife. 2020 Oct 29;9:e61675. doi: 10.7554/eLife.61675. PMID: 33118933; PMCID: PMC7595734.

Samaddar S, Marnin L, Butler LR, Pedra JHF. Immunometabolism in Arthropod Vectors: Redefining Interspecies Relationships. Trends Parasitol. 2020 Oct;36(10):807-815. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.010. PMID: 32819827; PMCID: PMC7897511.

 

Kurokawa C, Lynn GE, Pedra JHF, Pal U, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E. Interactions between Borrelia burgdorferi and ticks. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2020 Oct;18(10):587-600. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-0400-5. PMID: 32651470; PMCID: PMC7351536.

Narasimhan S, Kurokawa C, Diktas H, Strank NO, Černý J, Murfin K, Cao Y, Lynn G, Trentleman J, Wu MJ, DePonte K, Kantor F, Anguita J, Hovius J, Fikrig E. Ixodes scapularis saliva components that elicit responses associated with acquired tick-resistance. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2020 May;11(3):101369. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.101369. PMID: 31924502; PMCID: PMC7382422.

 

Marcinkiewicz AL, Lieknina I, Yang X, Lederman PL, Hart TM, Yates J, Chen WH, Bottazzi ME, Mantis NJ, Kraiczy P, Pal U, Tars K, Lin YP. The Factor H-Binding Site of CspZ as a Protective Target against Multistrain, Tick-Transmitted Lyme Disease. Infect Immun. 2020 Apr 20;88(5):e00956-19. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00956-19. PMID: 32122944; PMCID: PMC7171238.

 

Gomes-Solecki M, Arnaboldi PM, Backenson PB, Benach JL, Cooper CL, Dattwyler RJ, Diuk-Wasser M, Fikrig E, Hovius JW, Laegreid W, Lundberg U, Marconi RT, Marques AR, Molloy P, Narasimhan S, Pal U, Pedra JHF, Plotkin S, Rock DL, Rosa P, Telford SR, Tsao J, Yang XF, Schutzer SE. Protective Immunity and New Vaccines for Lyme Disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Apr 10;70(8):1768-1773. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz872. PMID: 31620776; PMCID: PMC7155782.

 

Bista S, Singh P, Bernard Q, Yang X, Hart T, Lin YP, Kitsou C, Singh Rana V, Zhang F, Linhardt RJ, Zhnag K, Akins DR, Hritzo L, Kim Y, Grab DJ, Dumler JS, Pal U. A Novel Laminin-Binding Protein Mediates Microbial-Endothelial Cell Interactions and Facilitates Dissemination of Lyme Disease Pathogens. J Infect Dis. 2020 Apr 7;221(9):1438-1447. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiz626. PMID: 31758693; PMCID: PMC7137894.

 

Murfin KE, Kleinbard R, Aydin M, Salazar SA, Fikrig E. Borrelia burgdorferi chemotaxis toward tick protein Salp12 contributes to acquisition. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Aug;10(5):1124-1134. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.06.002. PMID: 31204044; PMCID: PMC7792743.

 

Chávez ASO, O'Neal AJ, Santambrogio L, Kotsyfakis M, Pedra JHF. Message in a vesicle - trans-kingdom intercommunication at the vector-host interface. J Cell Sci. 2019 Mar 18;132(6):jcs224212. doi: 10.1242/jcs.224212. PMID: 30886004; PMCID: PMC6451414.

 

Schutzer SE, Body BA, Boyle J, Branson BM, Dattwyler RJ, Fikrig E, Gerald NJ, Gomes-Solecki M, Kintrup M, Ledizet M, Levin AE, Lewinski M, Liotta LA, Marques A, Mead PS, Mongodin EF, Pillai S, Rao P, Robinson WH, Roth KM, Schriefer ME, Slezak T, Snyder JL, Steere AC, Witkowski J, Wong SJ, Branda JA. Direct Diagnostic Tests for Lyme Disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Mar 5;68(6):1052-1057. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy614. PMID: 30307486; PMCID: PMC6399434.

 

Coumou J, Wagemakers A, Narasimhan S, Schuijt TJ, Ersoz JI, Oei A, de Boer OJ, Roelofs JJTH, Fikrig E, Hovius JW. The role of Mannose Binding Lectin in the immune response against Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 5;9(1):1431. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37922-8. PMID: 30723261; PMCID: PMC6363739.

 

McClure Carroll EE, Wang X, Shaw DK, O'Neal AJ, Oliva Chávez AS, Brown LJ, Boradia VM, Hammond HL, Pedra JHF. p47 licenses activation of the immune deficiency pathway in the tick Ixodes scapularis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jan 2;116(1):205-210. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1808905116. PMID: 30559180; PMCID: PMC6320499.

 

Narasimhan S, Booth CJ, DePonte K, Wu MJ, Liang X, Mohanty S, Kantor F, Fikrig E. Host-specific expression of Ixodes scapularis salivary genes. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019;10(2):386-97. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.12.001. PMID: 30545615. 

 

Taank V, Zhou W, Zhuang X, Anderson JF, Pal U, Sultana H, Neelakanta G. Characterization of tick organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) upon bacterial and viral infections. Parasit Vectors. 2018 Nov 14;11(1):593. doi: 10.1186/s13071-018-3160-6. PMID: 30428915; PMCID: PMC6236954.

 

Shaw DK, Tate AT, Schneider DS, Levashina EA, Kagan JC, Pal U, Fikrig E, Pedra JHF. Vector Immunity and Evolutionary Ecology: The Harmonious Dissonance. Trends Immunol. 2018 Nov;39(11):862-873. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2018.09.003. PMID: 30301592; PMCID: PMC6218297.

Zhuang X, Yang X, Altieri AS, Nelson DC, Pal U. Borrelia burgdorferi surface-located Lmp1 protein processed into region-specific polypeptides that are critical for microbial persistence. Cell Microbiol. 2018 Sep;20(9):e12855. doi: 10.1111/cmi.12855. PMID: 29749010; PMCID: PMC6113067.

Hart T, Yang X, Pal U, Lin YP. Identification of Lyme borreliae proteins promoting vertebrate host blood-specific spirochete survival in Ixodes scapularis nymphs using artificial feeding chambers. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2018 Jul;9(5):1057-1063. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.03.033. PMID: 29653905; PMCID: PMC6035877.

 

Moss CE, Robson A, Fikrig E, Narasimhan S. Visualization of Microbiota in Tick Guts by Whole-mount In Situ Hybridization. J Vis Exp. 2018 Jun 1;(136):57758. doi: 10.3791/57758. PMID: 29912204; PMCID: PMC6101453.

 

Smith AA, Yang X, Fikrig E, Pal U. Artificial Infection of Ticks with Borrelia burgdorferi Using a Microinjection Method and Their Detection In Vivo Using Quantitative PCR Targeting flaB RNA. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1690:105-14. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7383-5_9. PubMed PMID: 29032540.

Book chapters:

Lynn G, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E.  Potential impacts of climate change on medically important tick species in North America. Chapter 22, in Climate, Ticks and disease. Ed, Nuttall P. 2021. doi: 10.1079/9781789249637.0021

Kitsou C and Pal U. Vaccines against Vector-borne Diseases. Springer Protocol Book series: Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Nature, 2021. In Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1888-2_16

Pal U, Kitsou C, Drecktrah D, Büyüktanir O, Fikrig E. Interactions Between Ticks and Lyme Disease Spirochetes. In: Radolf JD and Samuels DS. Lyme Disease and Relapsing Fever Spirochetes: Genomics, Molecular Biology, Host Interactions and Disease Pathogenesis. Caister Academic Press; January 2021. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.21775/9781913652616.11.

Featured Early Findings from the Tick Immunity Team

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