Biochemical analysis of Hyalomma dromedarii salivary glands and gut tissues using SR-FTIR micro-spectroscopy

Authors: HENDAWY, SEHAM - Washington State University; ALZAN, HEBA - Washington State University; ABDEL-GHANY, HODA - Washington State University; Suarez, Carlos; KAMEL, GIHAM - Helwan University

Submitted to: Scientific Reports
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2024
Publication Date: 4/12/2024
Citation: Hendawy, S.H., Alzan, H.F., Abdel-Ghany, H.S., Suarez, C.E., Kamel, G. 2024. Biochemical analysis of Hyalomma dromedarii salivary glands and gut tissues using SR-FTIR micro-spectroscopy. Scientific Reports. 14. Article 8515. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59165-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59165-6

Interpretive Summary: Ticks are obligatory blood feeders infesting diverse vertebrate hosts that have a crucial role in the transmission of diverse pathogens that threaten human and animal health, including Babesia and Theileria. The continuous emergence of tick-borne diseases due to combined worldwide climatic changes, human activities, and acaricide-resistant tick strains, necessitates the development of novel ameliorative tick control strategies such as vaccines. The synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared micro-spectroscopy (SR-FTIR) is a bioanalytical microprobe capable of exploring the molecular chemistry within microstructures of tissues at a cellular or subcellular level and is considered as an analytical tool that allows the nondestructive analysis of biological specimens. Approaches using the SR-FTIR can be used to get detailed information on different tick tissues for developing anti-tick vaccines. Hereby, we describe SR-FTIR as a tool for detecting differences in the biochemical composition of Hyalomma dromedarii (H. dromedarii) salivary glands and gut tissues. This novel approach could potentially be extended to the analysis of other ticks that are vectors of important diseases such as babesiosis and theileriosis.

Technical Abstract: Ticks are obligatory voracious blood feeders infesting diverse vertebrate hosts, that have a crucial role in the transmission of diverse pathogens that threaten human and animal health. The continuous emergence of tick-borne diseases due to combined worldwide climatic changes, human activities, and acaricide-resistant tick strains, necessitates the development of novel ameliorative tick control strategies such as vaccines. The synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared micro-spectroscopy (SR-FTIR) is a bioanalytical microprobe capable of exploring the molecular chemistry within microstructures at a cellular or subcellular level and is considered as a nondestructive analytical approach for biological specimens. In this study, SR-FTIR analysis was able to explore a qualitative and semi-quantitative biochemical composition of gut and salivary glands of Hyalomma dromedarii (H. dromedarii) tick detecting differences in the biochemical composition of both tissues. A notable observation regarding Amide I secondary structure protein profile was the higher ratio of aggregated strands in salivary gland and beta turns in gut tissues. Regarding the lipid profile, there was a higher intensity of lipid regions in gut tissue when compared to salivary glands. This detailed information on the biochemical compositions of tick tissues could assist in selecting vaccine and/or control candidates. Altogether, these findings confirmed SR-FTIR spectroscopy as a tool for detecting differences in the biochemical composition of H. dromedarii salivary glands and gut tissues. This approach could potentially be extended to the analysis of other ticks that are vectors of important diseases such as babesiosis and theileriosis.