title: Increased Akt signaling in the mosquito fat body increases adult survivorship.
abstract: Akt signaling regulates diverse physiologies in a wide range of organisms. We examine the impact of increased Akt signaling in the fat body of 2 mosquito species, the Asian malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi and the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. Overexpression of a myristoylated and active form of A. stephensi and Ae. aegypti Akt in the fat body of transgenic mosquitoes led to activation of the downstream signaling molecules forkhead box O (FOXO) and p70 S6 kinase in a tissue and blood meal-specific manner. In both species, increased Akt signaling in the fat body after blood feeding significantly increased adult survivorship relative to nontransgenic sibling controls. In A. stephensi, survivorship was increased by 15% to 45%, while in Ae. aegypti, it increased 14% to 47%. Transgenic mosquitoes fed only sugar, and thus not expressing active Akt, had no significant difference in survivorship relative to nontransgenic siblings. Expression of active Akt also increased expression of fat body vitellogenin, but the number of viable eggs did not differ significantly between transgenic and nontransgenic controls. This work demonstrates a novel mechanism of enhanced survivorship through increased Akt signaling in the fat bodies of multiple mosquito genera and provides new tools to unlock the molecular underpinnings of aging in eukaryotic organisms.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Anam J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Arik
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Lewis V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Hun
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Kendra
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Quicke
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piatt
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Scaraffia
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Hemant
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Badgandi
authors.affiliation: *Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; and Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA mriehle@ag.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Riehle
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D005216:Fat Body / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013045:Species Specificity; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D019476:Insect Proteins; D014819:Vitellogenins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa
keywords: Aedes aegypti; Anopheles stephensi; aging; insulin signaling; vitellogenin