BioProject

Dengue viruses (DENV) are generally maintained in a cycle which requires horizontal transmission via their arthropod vector, Ae. More...

Dengue viruses (DENV) are generally maintained in a cycle which requires horizontal transmission via their arthropod vector, Ae. Aegypti, to the vertebrate host. One important consequence of this process is the interference of these arboviruses with both invertebrate and vertebrate immune systems. While infection of vertebrates causes disease, the presence of DENV gives rise to life-long, persistent infection in mosquitoes. The results of a comparative transcriptome analysis between DENV-infected and uninfected salivary glands revealed activation of both the immune deficiency (IMD) and the Toll pathways, as well as involvement of the putative antibacterial cecropin-like peptide (AAEL000598), in controlling DENV infection in Ae. aegypti. The mature form of this peptide was found to be active against DENV and Chikungunya viruses, whereas its precursor also had a strong anti-Leishmania effect. This study is the first to establish a comparative transcriptome analysis of DENV-infected and uninfected salivary glands and demonstrates that certain DENV-induced peptides, that are part of the IMD pathway, possess broad-spectrum anti-pathogenic activity and may have therapeutic potential in human. Overall design: Infectious blood meals were offered to 3-day-old, adult, female Ae. aegypti Liverpool mosquitoes using a silicone membrane feeder system (Alto et al., 2005). Human blood was combined with DENV-2 16681 to provide a blood meal titer of 5.106 plaque forming units (PFU)/ml. At different time-points after the blood meal, salivary glands were dissected in acid guanidium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform (RNAble; Eurobio, France) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and the samples were frozen at -70°C until use. Less...