Dendritic cells (DCs) are powerful initiators of innate and adaptive immune responses. Ticks are blood-sucking ectoparasite arthropods that suppress host immunity by secreting immunomodulatory molecules in their saliva. Here, compounds present in Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick saliva with immunomodulatory effects on DC differentiation, cytokine production, and costimulatory molecule expression were identified. R. sanguineus tick saliva inhibited IL-12p40 and TNF-␣ while potentiating IL-10 cytokine production by bone marrow-derived DCs stimulated by Toll-like receptor-2, -4, and -9 agonists. To identify the molecules responsible for these effects, we fractionated the saliva through microcon filtration and reversed-phase HPLC and tested each fraction for DC maturation. Fractions with proven effects were analyzed by micro-HPLC tandem mass spectrometry or competition ELISA. Thus, we identified for the first time in tick saliva the purine nucleoside adenosine (concentration of ϳ110 pmol/l) as a potent anti-inflammatory salivary inhibitor of DC cytokine production. We also found prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ϳ100 nM) with comparable effects in modulating cytokine production by DCs. Both Ado and PGE 2 inhibited cytokine production by inducing cAMP-PKA signaling in DCs. Additionally, both Ado and PGE 2 were able to inhibit expression of CD40 in mature DCs. Finally, flow cytometry analysis revealed that PGE 2 , but not Ado, is the differentiation inhibitor of bone marrow-derived DCs. The presence of non-protein molecules adenosine and PGE 2 in tick saliva indicates an important evolutionary mechanism used by ticks to subvert host immune cells and allow them to successfully complete their blood meal and life cycle.Ticks are phylogenetically distant from their hosts, but in general, these ectoparasites have developed, through their evolution, measures for adapting to host defense strategies. The most well studied approaches that ticks employ to evade host responses are the refined mixtures of proteic and non-protein molecules present in their saliva with anticlotting, anti-inflammatory, or immunomodulatory activities. As a result, a number of authors have demonstrated the suppression of cell-mediated and humorally mediated immune responses upon in vitro assays and following experimental models of tick infestations or naturally infested hosts (1-8).In the last 4 decades, many of these proteic and non-protein molecules have been characterized and their specific functions identified. To date, a diversity of proteic (e.g. chitinases, mucins, ixostatins, cystatins, defensins, hyaluronidases, Kunitz, lectins, and lipocalins) and non-protein molecules (e.g. prostaglandins and endocannabinoids) have been characterized (9 -14). (18); IgG-binding proteins theoretically decrease antibody functions (3, 19); ISAC, SALP-20, and OmCI inhibit alternative and/or classical pathways of the complement system (20, 21); and EVASIN-1, -3, and -4 bind chemokines and hamper cell migration (22,23).Despite the characterization of these molecules, most co...