Focusing on complement in the antiparasitic defense of mosquitoes.
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium and transmitted to humans by the Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquito immune system predominantly targets Plasmodium at the ookinete stage, and efficiently eliminates the majority of invading parasites. Identification of the components of the mosquito complement system now provides new focus for studies on the activation and control of this pathway, whose manipulation is expected to block malaria transmission at the vector level.
CNRS, UPR9022, INSERM, U963, Université de Strasbourg, UMR-963, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Strasbourg, France.
Gloria
G
Volohonsky
Stefanie
S
Steinert
Elena A
EA
Levashina
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000276:immunology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000502:physiology*; D011485:Protein Binding
D019476:Insect Proteins; C544265:TEP1 protein, Anopheles gambiae