title: Hemocyte differentiation mediates the mosquito late-phase immune response against Plasmodium in Anopheles gambiae.
abstract: Plasmodium parasites must complete development in the mosquito vector for transmission to occur. The mosquito innate immune response is remarkably efficient in limiting parasite numbers. Previous work has identified a LPS-induced TNFα transcription factor (LITAF)-like transcription factor, LITAF-like 3 (LL3), which significantly influences parasite numbers. Here, we demonstrate that LL3 does not influence invasion of the mosquito midgut epithelium or ookinete-to-oocyst differentiation but mediates a late-phase immune response that decreases oocyst survival. LL3 expression in the midgut and hemocytes is activated by ookinete midgut invasion and is independent of the mosquito microbiota, suggesting that LL3 may be a component of a wound-healing response. LL3 silencing abrogates the ability of mosquito hemocytes to differentiate and respond to parasite infection, implicating hemocytes as critical modulators of the late-phase immune response.
authors.affiliation: W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205;
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barillas-Mury
authors.affiliation: W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205; mlorena@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobs-Lorena
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D010587:Phagocytosis; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000276:immunology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: hemocytes; innate immune response; late-phase immunity; malaria; mosquito