What is it about?
Bacteria that cause anaplasmosis and Lyme disease are typically studied in the context of human infection, despite being transmitted by ticks. Our findings show a way in which these bacteria manipulate the cellular responses in ticks for their benefit. Bacteria activate the protein ATF6 which coordinates cellular responses when the cell undergoes stress. We found ATF6 supports these bacteria and increases the protein Stomatin uniquely in ticks. Within the cell Stomatin shuttles cholesterol which the bacteria hijack for replication. This paper also introduces an online tool we developed for researchers studying arthropod vectors like ticks, mosquitoes, and lice.
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Why is it important?
Our findings highlight a way these bacteria take advantage of tick pathways that differ from humans. We also predict this could be a common strategy amongst other arthropod-carried pathogens.
Perspectives
This article highlights the need for studying non-model organisms like ticks. These findings can open the door to targeting these pathogens in ticks before they are transmitted to humans.
Kaylee Vosbigian
Washington State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ATF6 enables pathogen infection in ticks by inducing
stomatin
and altering cholesterol dynamics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2501045122.
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