title: Laminin and the malaria parasite's journey through the mosquito midgut.
abstract: During the invasion of the mosquito midgut epithelium, Plasmodium ookinetes come to rest on the basal lamina, where they transform into the sporozoite-producing oocysts. Laminin, one of the basal lamina's major components, has previously been shown to bind several surface proteins of Plasmodium ookinetes. Here, using the recently developed RNAi technique in mosquitoes, we used a specific dsRNA construct targeted against the LANB2 gene (laminin gamma1) of Anopheles gambiae to reduce its mRNA levels, leading to a substantial reduction in the number of successfully developed oocysts in the mosquito midgut. Moreover, this molecular relationship is corroborated by the intimate association of developing P. berghei parasites and laminin in the gut, as observed using confocal microscopy. Our data support the notion of laminin playing a functional role in the development of the malaria parasite within the mosquito midgut.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Vassilika Vouton, PO Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Romanico B G
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Arrighi
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lycett
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mahairaki
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siden-Kiamos
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Louis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology*; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D017931:DNA Primers; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology; D007797:Laminin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D033661:Oocysts / Q000378:metabolism; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D007797:Laminin; C089141:laminin gamma 1