ArticleScientific reports2018
Tick galactosyltransferases are involved in α-Gal synthesis and play a role during Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection and Ixodes scapularis tick vector development.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
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46 citing papers in PubMed, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolution of alpha-Gal synthesis - a growing risk for alpha Gal syndrome.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Alpha-Gal syndrome unveiled: decoding the glycan-driven red meat allergy.Glycoconjugate journal · 2026Review
- Differential alpha-gal expression duringThe journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2026Article
- From vector to allergen: exploring the immunology of tick-triggered α-Gal syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Allergic reactions associated with tsetse fly bites.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- The Role ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Cystatin antibodies interfere with ovary development in Haemaphysalis doenitzi (Acari: Ixodidae).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Tick salivary proteins metalloprotease and allergen-like p23 are associated with response to glycan α-Gal and mycobacterium infection.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- The α-Gal epitope - the cause of a global allergic disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Influence of microbiota-driven natural antibodies on dengue transmission.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- High levels of alpha-gal with large variation in the salivary glands of lone star ticks fed on human blood.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Allergic reactions to tick saliva components in zebrafish model.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Frankenbacteriosis targeting interactions between pathogen and symbiont to control infection in the tick vector.iScience · 2023Article
- A draft of the genome of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2023Article
- Genetic and structural basis of the human anti-α-galactosyl antibody response.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Article
- Association of dengue infection with anti-alpha-gal antibodies, IgM, IgG, IgG1, and IgG2.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Tick Intrastadial Feeding and Its Role on IgE Production in the Murine Model of Alpha-gal Syndrome: The Tick "Transmission" Hypothesis.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Exploring the Ecological Implications of Microbiota Diversity in Birds: Natural Barriers Against Avian Malaria.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The carbohydrate Galα1-3Galβ1-(3)4GlcNAc-R (α-Gal) is produced in all mammals except for humans, apes and old world monkeys that lost the ability to synthetize this carbohydrate. Therefore, humans can produce high antibody titers against α-Gal. Anti-α-Gal IgE antibodies have been associated with tick-induced allergy (i.e. α-Gal syndrome) and anti-α-Gal IgG/IgM antibodies may be involved in protection against malaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. The α-Gal on tick salivary proteins plays an important role in the etiology of the α-Gal syndrome. However, whether ticks are able to produce endogenous α-Gal remains currently unknown. In this study, the Ixodes scapularis genome was searched for galactosyltransferases and three genes were identified as potentially involved in the synthesis of α-Gal. Heterologous gene expression in α-Gal-negative cells and gene knockdown in ticks confirmed that these genes were involved in α-Gal synthesis and are essential for tick feeding. Furthermore, these genes were shown to play an important role in tick-pathogen interactions. Results suggested that tick cells increased α-Gal levels in response to Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection to control bacterial infection. These results provided the molecular basis of endogenous α-Gal production in ticks and suggested that tick galactosyltransferases are involved in vector development, tick-pathogen interactions and possibly the etiology of α-Gal syndrome in humans.
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