Beerntsen Brenda T, Lowery Roy J
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2007 Mar;44(2):295-8. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2007)44[295:roasdc]2.0.co;2.
The relationship between mosquito and parasite involves a delicate balance that is influenced not only by the mosquito but also by parasite determinants. Using the biologically and morphologically similar parasites Brugia malayi and Brugia pahangi and the mosquito Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett) (Diptera: Culicidae), it should be possible to dissect out the key elements involved in initiating or avoiding an immune response, known as melanotic encapsulation, because in this mosquito B. malayi microfilariae (mf) are melanized and destroyed, but B. pahangi mf develop normally into infective-stage larvae. Because of limitations in isolating sufficient mf from the circulation of an infected mammalian host, Brugia spp. mf that can be obtained in large numbers from the peritoneal cavity of an infected host were tested to ascertain the immune response of Ar. subalbatus to this source of mf. Results indicate that the immune response of Ar. subalbatus against intraperitoneal (i.p.) Brugia spp. mf mimics that which is observed when this mosquito is exposed to mf-infected animals, indicating that i.p. mf are similar to those mf that circulate naturally in the blood of the vertebrate host. Therefore, the i.p. mf should serve as an excellent source of material for genomic and proteomic studies designed to analyze the role of the parasite in influencing the immune response of the mosquito.
蚊子与寄生虫之间的关系涉及一种微妙的平衡，这种平衡不仅受蚊子影响，还受寄生虫决定因素的影响。利用生物学和形态学上相似的寄生虫马来布鲁线虫和彭亨布鲁线虫以及白纹伊蚊（Coquillett）（双翅目：蚊科），应该能够剖析出引发或避免免疫反应（称为黑化包囊）所涉及的关键因素，因为在这种蚊子中，马来布鲁线虫微丝蚴（mf）会被黑化并被破坏，但彭亨布鲁线虫mf能正常发育成感染期幼虫。由于从受感染哺乳动物宿主的血液循环中分离出足够数量的mf存在局限性，因此对可从受感染宿主腹腔中大量获取的布鲁线虫属mf进行了测试，以确定白纹伊蚊对这种mf来源的免疫反应。结果表明，白纹伊蚊对腹腔内（i.p.）布鲁线虫属mf的免疫反应与该蚊子接触感染mf的动物时所观察到的免疫反应相似，这表明腹腔内mf与在脊椎动物宿主血液中自然循环的mf相似。因此，腹腔内mf应该是用于基因组和蛋白质组学研究的极佳材料来源，这些研究旨在分析寄生虫在影响蚊子免疫反应中的作用。
