Ticks and tick-borne diseases are on the rise world-wide and vaccines to prevent transmission of tick-borne diseases is an urgent public health need. Tick transmission of pathogens to the mammalian host occurs during tick feeding. Therefore, it is reasoned that vaccine targeting of tick proteins essential for feeding would thwart tick feeding and consequently prevent pathogen transmission. The phenomenon of acquired tick-immunity, wherein, repeated tick infestations of non-natural hosts results in the development of host immune responses detrimental to tick feeding has served as a robust paradigm in the pursuit of tick salivary antigens that may be vaccine targeted. While several salivary antigens have been identified, immunity elicited against these antigens have only provided modest tick rejection. This has raised the possibility that acquired tick-immunity is directed against tick components other than tick salivary antigens. Using Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged tick, that vectors several human pathogens, we demonstrate that immunity directed against tick salivary glycoproteins is indeed sufficient to recapitulate the phenomenon of tick-resistance. These observations emphasize the utility of tick salivary glycoproteins as viable vaccine targets to thwart tick feeding and direct our search for anti-tick vaccine candidates.

蜱虫和蜱传疾病在世界范围内呈上升趋势，预防蜱传疾病传播的疫苗是一项紧迫的公共卫生需求。蜱虫将病原体传播给哺乳动物宿主是在蜱虫喂食期间发生的。因此，可以推断，针对喂养所必需的蜱蛋白的疫苗靶向会阻止蜱喂养，从而防止病原体传播。获得性蜱免疫现象，其中，非自然宿主的重复蜱感染导致宿主免疫反应的发展对蜱喂养有害，已成为寻找可能作为疫苗目标的蜱唾液抗原的有力范例。虽然已经确定了几种唾液抗原，但针对这些抗原引发的免疫只提供了适度的蜱排斥反应。这提高了获得性蜱免疫针对蜱唾液抗原以外的蜱成分的可能性。使用Ixodes scapularis，黑腿蜱，携带几种人类病原体，我们证明针对蜱唾液糖蛋白的免疫力确实足以概括蜱抗性现象。这些观察结果强调了蜱唾液糖蛋白作为可行疫苗靶标的效用，以阻止蜱虫进食并指导我们寻找抗蜱虫候选疫苗。