Saliva of the soft tick, Ornithodoros moubata, contains anti-platelet and apyrase activities

Abstract

1. Pilocarpine-induced saliva of the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata inhibits platelet aggregation induced by ADP or collagen, even when diluted 2000 times into platelet rich plasma. 2. Saliva contains apyrase (ATP-diphosphohydrolase) activity, which has an optimal pH of 7.0 for ADP and of 8.0 for ATP hydrolysis, respectively. Both Ca2+ and Mg2+ activate the reactions. 3. The mean specific activities for ATP and ADP hydrolysis at pH 7.5 were 0.97 and 0.74 mumoles orthophosphate/min/mg protein. 4. These results, which demonstrate for the first time such activities in the saliva of soft ticks, support the hypothesis that the saliva of blood sucking arthropods serves an anti-hemostatic role during feeding and that large amounts of salivary apyrase activity have evolved independently in hematophagous arthropods.