ArticleParasites & vectors2020
The intracellular bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii exerts an inhibitory effect on the apoptosis of tick cells.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genomic evolution and adaptation of arthropod-associated Rickettsia.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Obligate intracellular bacteria and host cell death pathways-the matter of life and death.Cell and tissue research · 2025Review
- The host calcium system contributes to intracellularInfection and immunity · 2025Article
- Article
- Apoptosis and autophagy promoteFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- The role of autophagy in tick-endosymbiont interactions: insights fromMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Apoptosis and its pathways as targets for intracellular pathogens to persist in cells.Parasitology research · 2023Review
- Signatures in in vitro infection of NSC-34 mouse neurons and their cell nucleus with Rickettsia helvetica.BMC microbiology · 2023Article
- The survival of Amblyomma sculptum ticks upon blood-feeding depends on the expression of an inhibitor of apoptosis protein.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- The anal pore route is efficient to infectFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Article
- Lock and Key: WhyPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Apoptosis and Autophagy: Current Understanding in Tick-Pathogen Interactions.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
- Engorgement of Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides ticks blocked by silencing a protein inhibitor of apoptosis.Experimental & applied acarology · 2021Article
- Tick Immune System: What Is Known, the Interconnections, the Gaps, and the Challenges.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRickettsia rickettsii is a tick-borne obligate intracellular bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a life-threatening illness. To obtain an insight into the vector-pathogen interactions, we assessed the effects of infection with R. rickettsii on the proteome cells of the tick embryonic cell line BME26.
methodsThe proteome of BME26 cells was determined by label-free high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Also evaluated were the effects of infection on the activity of caspase-3, assessed by the hydrolysis of a synthetic fluorogenic substrate in enzymatic assays, and on the exposition of phosphatidyserine, evaluated by live-cell fluorescence microscopy after labeling with annexin-V. Finally, the effects of activation or inhibition of caspase-3 activity on the growth of R. rickettsii in BME26 cells was determined.
resultsTick proteins of different functional classes were modulated in a time-dependent manner by R. rickettsii infection. Regarding proteins involved in apoptosis, certain negative regulators were downregulated at the initial phase of the infection (6 h) but upregulated in the middle of the exponential phase of the bacterial growth (48 h). Microorganisms are known to be able to inhibit apoptosis of the host cell to ensure their survival and proliferation. We therefore evaluated the effects of infection on classic features of apoptotic cells and observed DNA fragmentation exclusively in noninfected cells. Moreover, both caspase-3 activity and phosphatidylserine exposition were lower in infected than in noninfected cells. Importantly, while the activation of caspase-3 exerted a detrimental effect on rickettsial proliferation, its inhibition increased bacterial growth.
conclusionsTaken together, these results show that R. rickettsii modulates the proteome and exerts an inhibitory effect on apoptosis in tick cellsthat seems to be important to ensure cell colonization.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.