Evasins: Biology and Therapeutic Potential of Broad‐Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitors

ABSTRACT Ticks are haematophagous parasites that rely on uninterrupted bloodmeals for survival and need an effective strategy to suppress the host inflammatory response. Leukocyte recruitment is a chemokine‐mediated hallmark of inflammation, which ticks counteract via anti‐chemokine proteins in their saliva named evasins. They are a heterogeneous family of glycoproteins that redundantly bind and inhibit chemokines. We provide a detailed overview of their chemokine‐binding properties, as well as their therapeutic efficacy in models of inflammation in vivo. Moreover, we discuss the potential challenges posed by using evasins in a therapeutic setting and explore how the development of modified evasins might aid this.