3.5 RAGE is upregulated during blood feeding processes by ticks
Since inflammations were more pronounced during feeding on wt mice, therefore, we planned to assess the expression of RAGE at the site of attachment of ticks. Tissues were collected and analyzed to determine expression of RAGE using fluorescence. We detected very high-level RAGE-specific green fluorescence at the biting site of ticks in wt mice (Figure 2), which was almost absent in non-infested normal mouse skin and in previously tick bitten RAGE-/- mouse skin, suggesting RAGE is highly expressed at the site of attachment of ticks.