Parasite Immune Modulators

Overview

Project to curate parasite immune modulator proteins, starting with vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus; UniProt code DESRO) salivary proteins reported to modulate host immunity.
See projects/VAMPIROME.md for the Vampirome-focused project and shared candidate list.

Background (Vampirome + host interaction)

• The Desmodus salivary gland transcriptome/proteome (“Vampirome”) catalogs secreted protein families associated with blood-feeding and host modulation, including plasminogen activators, lipocalins/secretoglobins, antigen-5/CRISP, protease inhibitors, and immune-related peptides. PMC3685427
• Draculin is a purified salivary anticoagulant that inhibits activated coagulation factors IXa and Xa. PMID:7740503
• Vampirome transcripts include DNases implicated in disrupting neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), as well as TSG-6/TNF-inducible gene family members, and CCL28-like proteins with immune relevance. PMC3685427
• Platelet/hemostasis modulators include TFPI-like Kunitz inhibitors, apyrases (ADP degradation), and phosphatases; antimicrobial proteins and protease inhibitors (cystatin/Kazal/TIL/serpins) are also enriched. PMC3685427
• Livestock repeatedly exposed to vampire bat bites show shortened clotting/bleeding times consistent with an acquired response to salivary anticoagulants, suggesting these proteins are immunogenic in prey. J Mammal 2009
• If we extend “symbiont-host” to the bat microbiome, vampire bat gut metagenomes show enrichment for heme/iron handling, vitamin/cofactor biosynthesis, and amino-acid metabolism pathways, offering hypotheses for host–symbiont interactions beyond saliva. Animal Microbiome 2021

Seed Genes (DESRO)

• [ ] Draculin
• [ ] CALCA
• [ ] Vampirome Table 4 extract (see projects/VAMPIROME/table4_extract.md)
• [ ] TODO: add remaining vampire bat modulators from user list

Vampirome candidates (mapped to UniProt)

• Full mapping table: projects/VAMPIROME/uniprot_mapping.md
• [ ] Putative serpin (UniProt: K9IJG1; entry K9IJG1_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-25903)
• [ ] Putative secreted protein precursor (UniProt: K9IFW5; entry K9IFW5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-36340)
• [ ] Metalloproteinase inhibitor 1 (UniProt: K9IGJ9; entry K9IGJ9_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-37180)
• [ ] Beta-defensin 1 (UniProt: K9IFT7; entry K9IFT7_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-401005)
• [ ] Putative cystatin-m (UniProt: K9IWH8; entry K9IWH8_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-41885)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IRT4; entry K9IRT4_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-466603)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IHB8; entry K9IHB8_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-495622)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IWR5; entry K9IWR5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-495624)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IQU6; entry K9IQU6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-495626)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IWP0; entry K9IWP0_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-495631)
• [ ] Putative scp crisp: scp-like extracellular (UniProt: K9IWX5; entry K9IWX5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-495870)
• [ ] Putative salivary lipocalin (UniProt: K9IYU4; entry K9IYU4_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-496761)
• [ ] t-plasminogen activator (UniProt: K9IJK6; entry K9IJK6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-499018)
• [ ] Putative pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating (UniProt: K9IGD6; entry K9IGD6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-500584)
• [ ] Lysozyme (UniProt: K9IWH5; entry K9IWH5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-500942; gene LYZ)
• [ ] C-C motif chemokine (UniProt: K9IFY6; entry K9IFY6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-506850)
• [ ] Epoxide hydrolase (UniProt: K9IKD6; entry K9IKD6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-508632)
• [ ] 2-phosphoxylose phosphatase 1 (UniProt: K9IKM9; entry K9IKM9_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-508800)
• [ ] A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 1 (UniProt: K9IUF6; entry K9IUF6_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-517665)
• [ ] Putative alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (UniProt: K9IXP7; entry K9IXP7_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-518161)
• [ ] Putative disintegrin and metalloproteinase (UniProt: K9IZP9; entry K9IZP9_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-521171)
• [ ] Tumor necrosis factor-inducible gene 6 protein (UniProt: K9IIP0; entry K9IIP0_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-527888)
• [ ] Deoxyribonuclease-1-like 1 (UniProt: K9J287; entry K9J287_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-532109)
• [ ] Metalloproteinase inhibitor 3 (UniProt: K9IHC5; entry K9IHC5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-534229)
• [ ] 5'-nucleotidase domain-containing protein 1 (UniProt: K9IKC7; entry K9IKC7_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-537653)
• [ ] Natriuretic peptides B (UniProt: K9IWC0; entry K9IWC0_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-538594)
• [ ] Kunitz-type protease inhibitor 2 (UniProt: K9IZA2; entry K9IZA2_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-541822)
• [ ] Serpin B6 (UniProt: K9J5D5; entry K9J5D5_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-543253)
• [ ] Putative neuroserpin is a inhibitory member of (UniProt: K9J0L7; entry K9J0L7_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-548577)
• [ ] Acid sphingomyelinase-like phosphodiesterase (UniProt: K9IL01; entry K9IL01_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-549118)
• [ ] Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (UniProt: K9J2R0; entry K9J2R0_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-561424)
• [ ] Lymphotoxin-alpha (UniProt: K9IWR0; entry K9IWR0_DESRO; transcript BatTrinityAbyss-86412)
• [ ] Putative secreted mucin (UniProt: K9IGW6; entry K9IGW6_DESRO; transcript DrSigp-SigP-36965)
• [ ] Putative iggfc-binding protein (UniProt: K9J450; entry K9J450_DESRO; transcript DrSigp-SigP-495835)
• [ ] Putative plasma protease c1 inhibitor (UniProt: K9IYM3; entry K9IYM3_DESRO; transcript DrSigp-SigP-532391)

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STATUS

2026-01-20

• [ ] Create gene folders and fetch UniProt/GOA data
• [ ] Deep research (default: falcon)
• [ ] Review existing annotations (annotation-reviewer)
• [ ] Synthesize core functions
• [ ] Optional: pathway summary (if requested)

2026-01-21

• [x] Add general background from Vampirome and host-response literature
• [x] Extract Vampirome Table 4 candidate transcript seeds
• [x] Map Vampirome transcript IDs to DESRO genes/UniProt accessions
• [x] Expand seed gene list after mapping

NOTES

2026-01-21

• Added Vampirome background and host interaction context with citations.
• Extracted a focused Table 4 candidate list into projects/VAMPIROME/table4_extract.md.
• Mapped 45 Vampirome transcript IDs to TSA/UniProt where possible; 35 matched UniProt accessions.
• Unmapped transcripts (no TSA/UniProt match via NCBI search): BatTrinityAbyss-321620, BatTrinityAbyss-429618, BatTrinityAbyss-489254, BatTrinityAbyss-499100, BatTrinityAbyss-499228, BatTrinityAbyss-500441, BatTrinityAbyss-509950, BatTrinityAbyss-523646, BatTrinityAbyss-8258, DrSigp-SigP-210264.
• Vampirome artifacts moved under projects/VAMPIROME/ and cross-linked.

2026-01-20

• Project initialized with seed DESRO proteins (Draculin, CALCA).
• Awaiting full seed list for remaining vampire bat modulators.