Vector-borne diseases constitute 17% of all infectious diseases in the world; among the blood-feeding arthropods, ticks transmit the highest number of pathogens. Understanding the interactions between the tick vector, the mammalian host and the pathogens circulating between them is the basis for the successful development of vaccines against ticks or the tick-transmitted pathogens as well as for the development of specific treatments against tick-borne infections. A lot of effort has been put into transcriptomic and proteomic analyses; however, the protein-carbohydrate interactions and the overall glycobiology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens has not been given the importance or priority deserved. Novel (bio)analytical techniques and their availability have immensely increased the possibilities in glycobiology research and thus novel information in the glycobiology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens is being generated at a faster pace each year. This review brings a comprehensive summary of the knowledge on both the glycosylated proteins and the glycan-binding proteins of the ticks as well as the tick-transmitted pathogens, with emphasis on the interactions allowing the infection of both the ticks and the hosts by various bacteria and tick-borne encephalitis virus.

• Keywords
• Anaplasma, Borrelia, Carbohydrate-binding, Glycan, Glycobiology, Host, Lectin, Pathogen, TBEV, Tick,
• MeSH
• Anaplasma pathogenicity   MeSH
• Borrelia pathogenicity   MeSH
• Glycomics methods   MeSH
• Glycosylation MeSH
• Host-Pathogen Interactions physiology   MeSH
• Ixodes microbiology   physiology   virology   MeSH
• Lectins metabolism   MeSH
• Tick-Borne Diseases physiopathology   MeSH
• Polysaccharides metabolism   MeSH
• Proteomics MeSH
• Carbohydrates physiology   MeSH
• Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne pathogenicity   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Lectins MeSH
• Polysaccharides MeSH
• Carbohydrates MeSH

We investigated the presence of glycoproteins in Borrelia burgdorferi. We did not find any evidence for glycosylation of the major outer membrane proteins OspA and OspB or the structural flagellar proteins FlaB and FlaA. We suggest that glycoproteins present on the surface of B. burgdorferi may be tightly bound culture medium glycoproteins.

• MeSH
• Antigens, Bacterial genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Antigens, Surface genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Bacterial Vaccines genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Borrelia burgdorferi genetics   metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel MeSH
• Cryoelectron Microscopy MeSH
• Flagellin genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Glycosylation MeSH
• Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization MeSH
• Lipoproteins genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Amino Acid Sequence MeSH
• Sequence Homology, Amino Acid MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Antigens, Bacterial MeSH
• Antigens, Surface MeSH
• Bacterial Vaccines MeSH
• flaA protein, bacteria MeSH Browser
• flaB flagellin MeSH Browser
• Flagellin MeSH
• Lipoproteins MeSH
• OspA protein MeSH Browser
• OspB protein, Borrelia burgdorferi MeSH Browser
• Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins MeSH

Selected cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) parameters (intrathecal synthesis of Borrelia-specific antibodies, oligoclonal IgG bands, CSF-to-serum quotient of albumin as a marker of blood-CSF barrier function and cytology) and typical CSF profile in neuroborreliosis were evaluated with the aim of elucidating possible clinical and laboratory similarities of neuroborreliosis (NB) and other neurological diseases (OND). From the cohort of 58 patients (38 diagnosed for NB, 20 with OND) NB patients had positive Borrelia-specific IgG antibodies in 97 % and positive Borrelia-specific IgM antibodies in 55 %; oligoclonal IgG bands were detected in 55%. The blood-CSF barrier was impaired in 89%, positive cytology was detected in 97% of the NB patients. Evaluation of specific intrathecal synthesis improves CSF diagnosis of NB, therefore, a combined CSF analysis has to be considered along with the clinical picture and medical history when formulating the diagnosis of NB.

• MeSH
• Borrelia burgdorferi Group * immunology   MeSH
• Diagnosis, Differential MeSH
• Blood-Brain Barrier MeSH
• Histocytochemistry MeSH
• Immunoglobulin G cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Immunoglobulin M cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Lyme Neuroborreliosis cerebrospinal fluid   diagnosis   MeSH
• Cerebrospinal Fluid * chemistry   cytology   immunology   MeSH
• Nervous System Diseases cerebrospinal fluid   diagnosis   MeSH
• Antibodies, Bacterial cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Serum Albumin cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Immunoglobulin G MeSH
• Immunoglobulin M MeSH
• Antibodies, Bacterial MeSH
• Serum Albumin MeSH