Schlaeger D A, Fuchs M S, Kang S H
J Cell Biol. 1974 May;61(2):454-65. doi: 10.1083/jcb.61.2.454.
Very little dopa decarboxylase activity is detectable in adult female mosquitoes Aedes aegypti which have not been allowed to engorge blood. However, when such females are injected with the molting hormone beta-ecdysone a marked stimulation of this enzyme's activity is observable. No stimulation is observed in males similarly injected, nor in females injected with cholesterol or a juvenile hormone mimic. In addition, ecdysone injection initiates ovarian development in these anautogenous non-blood-fed mosquitoes. The extent of stimulation in both cases is dependent upon the amount of beta-ecdysone administered. These results suggested that ecdysone may play a role in ovarian development in Aedes and led us to hypothesize that a normal blood meal may trigger the synthesis, activation, or release of this hormone endogenously. Using the radioimmune assay for ecdysone developed by Borst and O'Connor (Science [Wash. D. C.] 178:4-18.), we found that the titer of an antigenic-positive material, presumably ecdysone or a closely related analogue, substantially increased 24 h after blood feeding, thereby supporting our postulation.
在未吸食血液的成年雌性埃及伊蚊中，几乎检测不到多巴脱羧酶活性。然而，当给这些雌性蚊子注射蜕皮激素β-蜕皮酮时，可观察到该酶活性受到显著刺激。同样注射该激素的雄性蚊子以及注射胆固醇或保幼激素类似物的雌性蚊子均未出现刺激现象。此外，注射蜕皮酮可促使这些非血源营养且未吸食血液的蚊子卵巢发育。这两种情况下的刺激程度均取决于所施用的β-蜕皮酮的量。这些结果表明，蜕皮酮可能在埃及伊蚊的卵巢发育中起作用，这使我们推测正常的血液摄入可能会触发这种激素在体内的合成、激活或释放。利用博斯特和奥康纳（《科学》[华盛顿特区]178:4 - 18.）开发的蜕皮酮放射免疫分析法，我们发现，在吸食血液24小时后，一种抗原阳性物质（推测为蜕皮酮或密切相关的类似物）的滴度大幅增加，从而支持了我们的假设。
