Molecular analysis of human tick-bitten skin yields signatures associated with distinct spatial and temporal trajectories - A proof-of-concept study
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Ben-Othman, Rym
Skut, Patrycja
Lee, Amy Huey-Yi
Barbosa, Amanda D
Beaman, Miles
Currie, Andrew
Harvey, Nathan T
Kumarasinghe, Prasad
Hall, Roy A
Potter, James
Graves, Stephen
West, Nicholas P
Cox, Amanda J
Irwin, Peter J
et al.
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Abstract
Tick-associated diseases present challenges due to tridirectional interactions among host-specific responses, tick toxins and salivary proteins as well as microbes. We aimed to uncover molecular mechanisms in tick-bitten skin samples (cases) and contralateral skin samples (controls) collected simultaneously from the same participants, using spatial transcriptomics. Cases and controls analysed using NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler identified 274 upregulated and 840 downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs), revealing perturbations in keratinization and immune system regulation. Samples of skin biopsies taken within 72 h post tick-bite DEGs had changes in protein metabolism and viral infection pathways as compared to samples taken 3 months post tick-bite, which instead displayed significant perturbations in several epigenetic regulatory pathways, highlighting the temporal nature of the host response following tick bites. Within-individual signatures distinguished tick-bitten samples from controls and identified between-individual signatures, offering promise for future biomarker discovery to guide prognosis and therapy.
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Heliyon
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10
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13
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© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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Biochemistry and cell biology
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Lee, W; Ben-Othman, R; Skut, P; Lee, AH-Y; Barbosa, AD; Beaman, M; Currie, A; Harvey, NT; Kumarasinghe, P; Hall, RA; Potter, J; Graves, S; West, NP; Cox, AJ; Irwin, PJ; et al., Molecular analysis of human tick-bitten skin yields signatures associated with distinct spatial and temporal trajectories - A proof-of-concept study, Heliyon, 2024, 10 (13), pp. e33600