Method Article

Methods for Rapid Transfer and Localization of Lyme Disease Pathogens Within the Tick Gut

DOI:

10.3791/2544

āø±

February 14th, 2011

In This Article

Summary

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Lyme disease research studies often require generation of ticks infected with the pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, a process that typically takes several weeks. Here we demonstrate a microinjection-based tick infection procedure that can be accomplished within hours. We also demonstrate an immunofluorescence method for in situ localization of B. burgdorferi within ticks.

Abstract

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Lyme disease is caused by infection with the spirochete pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, which is maintained in nature by a tick-rodent infection cycle 1. A tick-borne murine model 2 has been developed to study Lyme disease in the laboratory. While naĆ­ve ticks can be infected with B. burgdorferi by feeding them on infected mice, the molting process takes several weeks to months to complete. Therefore, development of more rapid and efficient tick infection techniques, such as a microinjection-based procedure, is an important tool for the study of Lyme disease 3,4. The procedure requires only hours to generate infected ticks and allows control over the delivery of equal quantities of spirochetes in a cohort of ticks. This is particularly important as the generation of B. burgdorferi infected ticks by the natural feeding process using mice fails to ensure 100% infection rate and potentially results in variation of pathogen burden amongst fed ticks. Furthermore, microinjection can be used to infect ticks with B. burgdorferi isolates in cases where an attenuated strain is unable to establish infection in mice and thus can not be naturally acquired by ticks 5. This technique can also be used to deliver a variety of other biological materials into ticks, for example, specific antibodies or double stranded RNA 6. In this article, we will demonstrate the microinjection of nymphal ticks with in vitro-grown B. burgdorferi. We will also describe a method for localization of Lyme disease pathogens in the tick gut using confocal immunofluorescence microscopy.

Protocol

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1. Microinjection of Nymphal Ixodes scapularis Ticks

1. Preparing needles

  1. Fabricate several microinjection needles by heating and pulling 1 mm glass capillary tubes (World Precision Instruments) in a glass micropipette puller device (Narishige). Carefully remove the fragile capillary tubes.
  2. Store pulled needles (with tip facing upward) on adhesive tape in a Petri dish.

2. Preparing B. burgdorferi

  1. Grow B. burgdorferi in BSK culture media 7 until at a concentration of about 107 cells per mL. Spirochetes are counted under....

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Discussion

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Here we demonstrate a microinjection-based procedure for rapid and efficient infection of nymphal Ixodes ticks with the bacterial pathogen B. burgdorferi. We also describe a confocal immunofluorescence procedure for the detection of B. burgdorferi in the tick gut in situ. Although our demonstration involves nymphal gut, similar procedures are also applicable for other developmental stages of ticks, such as larva or adults 8,9. However, due to their smaller size, the technique may b.......

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Disclosures

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No conflicts of interest declared.

Acknowledgements

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We sincerely thank members of the Pal laboratory for assistance with the preparation of this demonstration. This study was supported by PHS grants AI076684 and AI080615 from NIH/NIAID.

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Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Glass capillary tubesWorld Precision Instruments, Inc.TW100F-4
Vertical glass pullerNarishige InternationalPC-10
Petroff-Hausser counting chamberHausser Scientific3900
Microloader pipette tipsEppendorf930001007
Femtojet microinjectorEppendorf920010504
Foot control FemtJetEppendorf920005098
Phosphate buffered salineFisher ScientificBP665-1Filter-sterilized

References

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  1. Steere, A. C., Coburn, J., Glickstein, L. The emergence of Lyme disease. J Clin Invest. 113, 1093-1101 (2004).
  2. Barthold, S. W., Diego, C., Philipp, M. T. Borrelia, Molecular Biology, Host Interaction and Pathogenesis. Samuels, D. S., Radolf, J. D. , Caister Academic Press. Chapter 14 353-405 (2010).
  3. Pal, U. ....

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Tags

Tick Gut LocalizationMicroinjection ProcedureConfocal MicroscopyBorrelia BurgdorferiTick DissectionImmunofluorescence LabelingGlass Capillary NeedlesBacterial Culture PreparationAnal Aperture Access

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