Immune Responses in the Anopheles gambiae Malaria Vector

@article{christophides_immunity-related_2002,

title = {Immunity-related genes and gene families in Anopheles gambiae},

author = {George K Christophides and Evgeny Zdobnov and Carolina Barillas-Mury and Ewan Birney and Stephanie A Blandin and Claudia Blass and Paul T Brey and Frank H Collins and Alberto Danielli and George Dimopoulos and Charles Hetru and Ngo T Hoa and Jules A Hoffmann and Stefan M Kanzok and Ivica Letunic and Elena A Levashina and Thanasis G Loukeris and Gareth Lycett and Stephan Meister and Kristin Michel and Luis F Moita and Hans-Michael Müller and Mike A Osta and Susan M Paskewitz and Jean-Marc Reichhart and Andrey Rzhetsky and Laurent Troxler and Kenneth D Vernick and Dina Vlachou and Jennifer Volz and Christian von Mering and Jiannong Xu and Liangbiao Zheng and Peer Bork and Fotis C Kafatos},

url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12364793},

doi = {10.1126/science.1077136},

issn = {1095-9203},

year  = {2002},

date = {2002-10-01},

journal = {Science},

volume = {298},

number = {5591},

pages = {159--165},

abstract = {We have identified 242 Anopheles gambiae genes from 18 gene families implicated in innate immunity and have detected marked diversification relative to Drosophila melanogaster. Immune-related gene families involved in recognition, signal modulation, and effector systems show a marked deficit of orthologs and excessive gene expansions, possibly reflecting selection pressures from different pathogens encountered in these insects' very different life-styles. In contrast, the multifunctional Toll signal transduction pathway is substantially conserved, presumably because of counterselection for developmental stability. Representative expression profiles confirm that sequence diversification is accompanied by specific responses to different immune challenges. Alternative RNA splicing may also contribute to expansion of the immune repertoire.},

keywords = {Alternative Splicing, Animals, Anopheles, Apoptosis, bacteria, bioinformatic, blandin, Catechol Oxidase, Computational Biology, Enzyme Precursors, Gene Expression Regulation, Genes, Genetic, Genome, hoffmann, Immunity, Innate, Insect, Insect Proteins, M3i, Multigene Family, Peptides, Phylogeny, Plasmodium, Protein Structure, reichhart, Selection, Serine Endopeptidases, Serpins, Signal Transduction, Tertiary},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{S2002,

title = {Reverse genetics in the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae : targeted disruption of the Defensin gene},

author = {Stéphanie A Blandin and L F Moita and T Kocher and M Wilm and Fotis C Kafatos and Elena A Levashina},

url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12189180},

year  = {2002},

date = {2002-09-02},

journal = {EMBO Rep.},

volume = {3},

number = {9},

pages = {852-6},

abstract = {Anopheles gambiae, the major vector of human malaria parasite, is an important insect model to study vector-parasite interactions. Here, we developed a simple in vivo double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) knockout approach to determine the function of the mosquito antimicrobial peptide gene Defensin. We injected dsRNA into adults and observed efficient and reproducible silencing of Defensin. Analysis of the knockdown phenotype revealed that this peptide is required for the mosquito antimicrobial defense against Gram-positive bacteria. In contrast, in mosquitoes infected by Plasmodium berghei, no loss of mosquito viability and no significant effect on the development and morphology of the parasite midgut stages were observed in the absence of Defensin. We conclude that this peptide is not a major antiparasitic factor in A. gambiae in vivo. Our results open new perspectives for the study of mosquito gene function in vivo and provide a basis for genome-scale systematic functional screens by targeted gene silencing.},

keywords = {blandin, defensin, M3i},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{levashina_conserved_2001,

title = {Conserved role of a complement-like protein in phagocytosis revealed by dsRNA knockout in cultured cells of the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae},

author = {Elena A Levashina and L F Moita and Stéphanie A Blandin and G Vriend and Marie Lagueux and F C Kafatos},

issn = {0092-8674},

year  = {2001},

date = {2001-01-01},

journal = {Cell},

volume = {104},

number = {5},

pages = {709--718},

abstract = {We characterize a novel hemocyte-specific acute phase glycoprotein from the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae. It shows substantial structural and functional similarities, including the highly conserved thioester motif, to both a central component of mammalian complement system, factor C3, and to a pan-protease inhibitor, alpha2-macroglobulin. Most importantly, this protein serves as a complement-like opsonin and promotes phagocytosis of some Gram-negative bacteria in a mosquito hemocyte-like cell line. Chemical inactivation by methylamine and depletion by double-stranded RNA knockout demonstrate that this function is dependent on the internal thioester bond. This evidence of a complement-like function in a protostome animal adds substantially to the accumulating evidence of a common ancestry of immune defenses in insects and vertebrates.},

keywords = {alpha-Macroglobulins, Animals, Anopheles, blandin, Cells, Cloning, Complement C3, Cultured, DNA Fragmentation, Double-Stranded, Female, Genetic, Gram-Negative Bacteria, Hemocytes, Insect Proteins, M3i, Molecular, Nucleic Acid Denaturation, Phagocytosis, Protein Structure, RNA, Tertiary, Transcription},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}