Mapping protective epitopes in the tick and mosquito subolesin ortholog proteins.

The tick protective antigen, subolesin, is a structural and functional ortholog of insect akirins, an evolutionary conserved group of proteins that regulate gene expression thus affecting multiple cellular processes such as digestion, immune response, reproduction and development. In this study, we searched for common protective epitopes in tick and mosquito subolesin ortolog proteins. By combining the results of peptide and phage-display libraries scan analysis with sera from protected animals with computational modeling, three different epitope types (i) linear B-cell epitopes, (ii) conformational epitopes, and (iii) conformational discontinuous epitopes were identified. The determination of conserved protective epitopes in subolesin ortologs may lead to the development of a multi-target universal vaccine directed at the control of both arthropod infestations and reduction of vector capacity to transmit pathogens.