Production and functional characterization of tick salivary protease inhibitors
Abstrakt
Two cysteine and two serine protease inhibitors from a tick Ixodes ricinus saliva were
overexpressed using a prokaryotic overexpression system and refolded to their native state.
Both cysteine protease inhibitors were tested as potential antigens for an anti-tick vaccine
showing no effect on tick feeding or reproduction. Various immunological methods were
employed to test the potential immunomodulatory function of these proteins without success.