Osta Mike A, Christophides George K, Kafatos Fotis C
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
Science. 2004 Mar 26;303(5666):2030-2. doi: 10.1126/science.1091789.
Malaria parasites must complete a complex developmental cycle in an Anopheles mosquito vector before transmission to a vertebrate host. Sexual development of the parasite in the midgut is initiated in the lumen immediately after the mosquito ingests infected blood, and the resulting ookinetes must traverse the surrounding epithelial layer before transforming into oocysts. The innate immune system of the mosquito is activated during midgut invasion, but to date, no evidence has been published identifying mosquito immune genes that affect parasite development. Here, we show by gene silencing that an Anopheles gambiae leucine rich-repeat protein acts as an antagonist and two C-type lectines act as protective agonists on the development of Plasmodium ookinetes to oocysts.
疟原虫在传播给脊椎动物宿主之前，必须在按蚊媒介中完成一个复杂的发育周期。蚊子摄入感染血液后，寄生虫在中肠内立即开始有性发育，产生的动合子在转化为卵囊之前必须穿过周围的上皮层。蚊子的先天免疫系统在中肠入侵期间被激活，但迄今为止，尚未发表任何证据表明存在影响寄生虫发育的蚊子免疫基因。在这里，我们通过基因沉默表明，冈比亚按蚊富含亮氨酸重复蛋白作为拮抗剂，而两种C型凝集素作为保护性激动剂，对疟原虫动合子发育为卵囊具有作用。
