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About the Authors:
José M. C. Ribeiro
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Teresa C. F. Assumpção
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Dongying Ma
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Patricia H. Alvarenga
Affiliations Laboratório de Bioquímica de Resposta ao Estresse, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular (INCT-EM), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Van M. Pham
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
John F. Andersen
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Ivo M. B. Francischetti
Affiliation: Vector Biology Section, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
Kevin R. Macaluso
Affiliation: Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
Introduction
Saliva of blood-feeding animals contains a mixture of compounds that prevent their host's physiologic defences against blood loss, or hemostasis, which is a complex response based on the functional triad of platelet aggregation, vasoconstriction, and blood clotting. Indeed, anticlotting, vasodilatory, and antiplatelet substances have been characterized from salivary gland (SG) homogenates of many ticks, blood-feeding insects, nematodes, annelids, and bats [1]–[5]. Hematophagous arthropod saliva may also contain antimicrobial compounds that might help to contain bacterial growth in the ingested blood bolus [1]. On the other hand, salivary proteins may generate irritating immune responses in their hosts that might be detrimental to blood feeding.
In the past 10 years, molecular biology advances allowed the description of organ-specific transcriptomes, obtained from the random DNA sequencing of clones derived from reverse transcription of organ-specific mRNA (which produces a DNA copy of the mRNA, or cDNA, the set of which is known as...