Researchers in Australia have found that ticks, a type of arachnid, may help to treat inflammatory diseases.
The team at Monash University, Melbourne, showed that it was possible to modify proteins found naturally in tick saliva – called evasins – to block inflammation.
The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pave the way to the development of new therapies for disorders such as arthritis, asthma and multiple sclerosis.
“We’ve shown that it is possible to engineer an evasin with superior ability, giving us a novel structural model by which proteins can achieve binding selectivity,” said co-lead author Professor Martin Stone.