Blood feeding triggers the terminal differentiation of precursor cells in tick salivary glands - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #pathogen-transmission
- #tick-saliva
- #cellular-differentiation
- Blood feeding triggers the terminal differentiation of salivary gland precursor cells in ticks, a mechanism underlying the sialome switch.
- Integrated multi-omics and imaging identified conserved undifferentiated precursor cells in unfed ticks that specialize upon host attachment.
- Tick salivary glands dynamically remodel in response to host contact, unlike other blood-feeding arthropods, to produce saliva with shifting composition.
- This cellular basis of salivary gland maturation offers potential targets to disrupt tick feeding and pathogen transmission to humans.