title: Acetylcholinesterases from the Disease Vectors Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae: Functional Characterization and Comparisons with Vertebrate Orthologues.
abstract: Mosquitoes of the Anopheles (An.) and Aedes (Ae.) genus are principal vectors of human diseases including malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Insecticide-based vector control is an established and important way of preventing transmission of such infections. Currently used insecticides can efficiently control mosquito populations, but there are growing concerns about emerging resistance, off-target toxicity and their ability to alter ecosystems. A potential target for the development of insecticides with reduced off-target toxicity is the cholinergic enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Herein, we report cloning, baculoviral expression and functional characterization of the wild-type AChE genes (ace-1) from An. gambiae and Ae. aegypti, including a naturally occurring insecticide-resistant (G119S) mutant of An. gambiae. Using enzymatic digestion and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry we found that the secreted proteins were post-translationally modified. The Michaelis-Menten constants and turnover numbers of the mosquito enzymes were lower than those of the orthologous AChEs from Mus musculus and Homo sapiens. We also found that the G119S substitution reduced the turnover rate of substrates and the potency of selected covalent inhibitors. Furthermore, non-covalent inhibitors were less sensitive to the G119S substitution and differentiate the mosquito enzymes from corresponding vertebrate enzymes. Our findings indicate that it may be possible to develop selective non-covalent inhibitors that effectively target both the wild-type and insecticide resistant mutants of mosquito AChE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Engdahl
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knutsson
authors.affiliation: Swedish Defence Research Agency, CBRN Defence and Security, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sten-Åke
authors.initials: SÅ
authors.lastname: Fredriksson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linusson
authors.affiliation: Swedish Defence Research Agency, CBRN Defence and Security, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bucht
authors.affiliation: Swedish Defence Research Agency, CBRN Defence and Security, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ekström
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000330:Aedes / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D017753:Ecosystem; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase