Vaccination with Recombinant Subolesin Antigens Provides Cross-Tick Species Protection in Bos indicus and Crossbred Cattle in Uganda

Abstract

Cattle tick infestations and transmitted pathogens affect animal health, production and welfare with an impact on cattle industry in tropical and subtropical countries. Anti-tick vaccines constitute an effective and sustainable alternative to the traditional methods for the control of tick infestations. Subolesin (SUB)-based vaccines have shown efficacy for the control of multiple tick species, but several factors affect the development of new and more effective vaccines for the control of tick infestations. To address this challenge, herein we used a regional and host/tick species driven approach for vaccine design and implementation. The objective of the study was to develop SUB-based vaccines for the control of the most important tick species (Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, R. decoloratus and Amblyomma variegatum) affecting production of common cattle breeds (Bos indicus and B. indicus x B. taurus crossbred) in Uganda. In this way, we addressed the development of anti-tick vaccines as an intervention to prevent the economic losses caused by ticks and tick-borne diseases in the cattle industry in Uganda. The results showed the possibility of using SUB antigens for the control of multiple tick species in B. indicus and crossbred cattle and suggested the use of R. appendiculatus SUB to continue research on vaccine design and formulation for the control of cattle ticks in Uganda. Future directions would include quantum vaccinology approaches based on the characterization of the SUB protective epitopes, modeling of the vaccine E under Ugandan ecological and epidemiological conditions and optimization of vaccine formulation including the possibility of oral administration.

Changes in Serum Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in Cattle Vaccinated with Tick Recombinant Antigens: A Pilot Study

“…SUB and BM86 recombinant antigens from R.microplus were used because R. microplus is endemic of cattle in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, causing major economic losses to cattle producers through direct physical effects on the parasitized animals and indirectly through transmission of infectious disease [ 40 ]. Additionally, they were described and tested in previous vaccination trials, SUB is a highly conserved genetically and functionally across all tick species [ 41 ] and has shown protection for the control of multiple tick species infestations and pathogen infection and transmission [ 8 ] and BM86 was successful in the control of tick populations of R. microplus reducing the average fertility of adult ticks [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Serum was then separated after centrifugation and stored at −20 °C until analysis, after that the samples were stored at −80 °C. Serum antibody titers were determined using an indirect ELISA [ 28 ]. Then 0.1 µg of each purified recombinant antigen (diluted in 50 µL of carbonate-bicarbonate buffer; Sigma–Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) per well was used for overnight coating of high absorption capacity polystyrene microtiter ELISA plates at 4 °C.…”

“…Three assays previously validated for measuring TAC in serum of dogs were used: TEAC, CUPRAC, and FRAP [ 30 ]. TEAC was measured using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to generate the radical 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS •+ ) (TEAC) [ 28 ]. CUPRAC and FRAP were measured by previously described assays [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Cocktail Anti-Tick Vaccines: The Unforeseen Constraints and Approaches toward Enhanced Efficacies

“…In addition, often cattle tick vaccine trials are undertaken in susceptible Bos taurus breeds, it is rare that trials are undertaken using several different breeds or crossbreeds. It is possible that variable responses to vaccine candidates will also be observed in cattle, such as a recent report using subolesin antigens in Bos indicus vs. a crossbreed [ 113 ] (see Table 1 ).…”

Probing the Rhipicephalus bursa Sialomes in Potential Anti-Tick Vaccine Candidates: A Reverse Vaccinology Approach

“…The (re)emergence of ticks and tick-borne diseases and the lack of safer and more effective control strategies have reinvigorated research efforts by the scientific community to explore ways to control ticks and, subsequently, their associated diseases. Biological control [ 6 ], acaricides [ 7 , 8 ], resistant production breeds [ 9 ], and vaccines [ 10 , 11 , 12 ] are being proposed and readily tested for tick population control. Vaccines are one of the most environmentally friendly pharmaceutical products [ 13 ], as well as effective prophylactic treatment [ 14 ], used in infectious disease control.…”