The immune response of ticks to the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, are poorly understood. Continuous tick cell lines offer a useful resource for studying complex interactions in a semi-defined system. The objective of this research is to examine the cellular immune response of Ixodes scapularis, a vector of Lyme disease, and compare it with that of Dermacentor andersoni, a tick not known to vector B. burgdorferi. I used two cell lines from I. scapularis, IDE12 and ISE6, and one cell line from D. andersoni, DAE15, to study the cellular immune response to B. burgdorferi. The lines varied in their ability to phagocytise B. burgdorferi. The ISE6 showed very limited phagocytosis, while IDE12 and DAE15 exhibited considerable phagocytic capacity. Phagocytosis began between 2 – 5 hour post inoculation. Dead B. burgdorferi were processed in the same manner as live bacteria. Following coiling phagocytosis, borreliae were held in acidic compartments near the cell’s periphery.
Species 1: Spirochaetales Spirochaetaceae Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease spirochete)
Species 2: Acari Ixodidae Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick)
Species 3: Acari Ixodidae Dermacentor andersoni (Rocky Mountain wood tick)
Keywords: cell lines, immune response
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA