title: The Anopheles innate immune system in the defense against malaria infection.
abstract: The multifaceted innate immune system of insects is capable of fighting infection by a variety of pathogens including those causing human malaria. Malaria transmission by the Anopheles mosquito depends on the Plasmodium parasite's successful completion of its lifecycle in the insect vector, a process that involves interactions with several tissues and cell types as well as with the mosquito's innate immune system. This review will discuss our current understanding of the Anopheles mosquito's innate immune responses against the malaria parasite Plasmodium and the influence of the insect's intestinal microbiota on parasite infection.
authors.affiliation: W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., USA.
authors.forename: April M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: Yuemei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology