title: Characterization of a vasodilator from the salivary glands of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti.
abstract: Salivary gland homogenates and oil-induced saliva of the mosquito Aedes aegypti dilate the rabbit aortic ring and contract the guinea pig ileum. The vasodilatory activity is endothelium-dependent, heat-stable, sensitive to both trypsin and chymotrypsin treatments, and both smooth muscle activities cross-desensitize to the tachykinin peptide substance P. Both bioactivities co-elute when salivary gland homogenates are fractionated by reversed-phase HPLC. Molecular sieving chromatography indicates a relative molecular mass of 1400. A monoclonal antibody specific to the carboxy terminal region of tachykinins reacts with material in the posterior part of the central lobe of paraformaldehyde-fixed salivary glands. The presence of a vasodilatory peptide of the tachykinin family in the salivary glands of A. aegypti is proposed and its role in blood feeding is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000737:chemistry*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D007082:Ileum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D011817:Rabbits; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000737:chemistry*; D013373:Substance P / Q000494:pharmacology; D015320:Tachykinins / Q000032:analysis; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015320:Tachykinins; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D013373:Substance P