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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #359601
Research Project: New Microbial and Plant-Based Agents for Mosquito Control

Location: Crop Bioprotection Research

Title: Mosquito midgut prostaglandin release establishes systemic immune priming

Author
item BARLETTA, ANA BEATRIZ - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)
item TRISNADI, NATHANIE - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)
item Ramirez, Jose
item BARILLAS-MURY, CAROLINA - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)

Submitted to: iScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/8/2019
Publication Date: 9/27/2019
Citation: Barletta, A.F., Trisnadi, N., Ramirez, J.L., Barillas-Mury, C. 2019. Mosquito midgut prostaglandin release establishes systemic immune priming. iScience. 19:54-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2019.07.012.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.isci.2019.07.012

Interpretive Summary: A complex interaction between the malaria parasite and the mosquito determines parasite transmission. This study describes the molecules that allow the mosquito to fight subsequent parasite infections. These molecules are produced by the mosquito gut upon blood meal, bacterial exposure and parasite infection. Release of these molecules attract mosquito immune cells to the site of infection and leads to the production of antiparasitic compounds that are detrimental to the malaria parasite. These results provides new knowledge in our understanding of how the mosquito fights the malaria parasite infection.

Technical Abstract: Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes that have been infected with Plasmodium mount a more effective immune response to a subsequent infection. The priming response is established when Plasmodium invasion of the mosquito midgut allows contact of the gut microbiota with epithelial cells. This is followed by a constitutive systemic release of a hemocyte differentiation factor (HDF) consisting of Lipoxin A4 bound to Evokin, a lipocalin carrier, that increases the proportion of circulating hemocytes. The signal(s) released by the midgut that induce systemic HDF production were unknown. Here, we show that mosquito midgut cells produce and release prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) when they come in contact with the gut microbiota or the immune elicitors they release. PG midgut release attracts hemocytes to the mosquito midgut surface and enhances their patrolling activity. Midgut PGE2 also primed the mosquito immune system and enhanced antiplasmodial immunity by triggering HDF release. Two heme-peroxidases, HPX7 and HPX8, that are essential for PG synthesis and to establish immune priming were identified. Together, our findings suggest that, in insects, heme peroxidases catalyze the initial steps in PG synthesis, and indicate that PGE2 release by midgut epithelial cells elicits a chemotactic response that attracts hemocytes and is essential for the establishment of immune priming.