Biomedical subjects

Majd N Aljamali

Publications and source records attributed to Majd N Aljamali.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Application of RNA interference in tick salivary gland research.

Ticks are obligate ectoparasites that feed on a variety of hosts including mammals, birds and reptiles. Prolonged attachment on the host and an ability to transmit a wide variety of pathogens are the special features of tick feeding. Salivary glands are the major route for secretion of excess fluid, several proteins, and factors that counteract the host immune response and hence play a significant role in the success of tick feeding. RNA interference (RNAi) enables scientists to silence genes encoding proteins in an absolutely sequence specific manner at the mRNA level. This technique has already been successfully employed in analyzing roles of proteins of important functions or in assigning roles to several proteins of unknown functions in a variety of animals. In this review, we outline the process of RNAi and the applicability of RNAi in tick salivary gland research.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

RNA interference: applicability in tick research.

The rapid development of new genetic tools has boosted the gene discovery machinery. RNA interference (RNAi), a gene silencing process, has been recently used in several eukaryotic organisms to elucidate the function(s) of unknown genes and biochemical pathways. We used the dsRNA technique in Amlyomma americanum female ticks to test the applicability of the RNAi approach in ticks. Incubation of tick salivary glands (TSGs) in vitro and in vivo injection into whole female ticks with histamine binding protein (HBP) dsRNA led to a reduction in the HBP transcripts in the dsRNA treated groups. The dsRNA-injected ticks had a profound difference in their feeding pattern compared to control ticks that might reflect an increase in local histamine concentrations at the feeding sites. To our knowledge, this is the first RNAi study in ticks. In conclusion, RNAi can be applied in ticks and might be used to test the function of key proteins crucial for avoiding host defense at the tick-host interface.

Animals↗