title: Amino acids trigger down-regulation of superoxide via TORC pathway in the midgut of Rhodnius prolixus.
abstract: Sensing incoming nutrients is an important and critical event for intestinal cells to sustain life of the whole organism. The TORC is a major protein complex involved in monitoring the nutritional status and is activated by elevated amino acid concentrations. An important feature of haematophagy is that huge amounts of blood are ingested in a single meal, which results in the release of large quantities of amino acids, together with the haemoglobin prosthetic group, haem, which decomposes hydroperoxides and propagates oxygen-derived free radicals. Our previous studies demonstrated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were diminished in the mitochondria and midgut of the Dengue fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, immediately after a blood meal. We proposed that this mechanism serves to avoid oxidative damage that would otherwise be induced by haem following a blood meal. Studies also performed in mosquitoes have shown that blood or amino acids controls protein synthesis through TORC activation. It was already proposed, in different models, a link between ROS and TOR, however, little is known about TOR signalling in insect midgut nor about the involvement of ROS in this pathway. Here, we studied the effect of a blood meal on ROS production in the midgut of Rhodnius prolixus We observed that blood meal amino acids decreased ROS levels in the R. prolixus midgut immediately after feeding, via lowering mitochondrial superoxide production and involving the amino acid-sensing TORC pathway.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil pedro@bioqmed.ufrj.br gandara@bioqmed.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Ana Caroline P
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gandara
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Henrique M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Resposta ao Estresse, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil Laboratório de Inflamação e Metabolismo, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata L S
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goncalves
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Vascular, Instituto do Coração (InCor), Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Medicina, São Paulo, 05403-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-360, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Genta
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Vascular, Instituto do Coração (InCor), Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Medicina, São Paulo, 05403-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francisco R M
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Laurindo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Resposta ao Estresse, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil Laboratório de Inflamação e Metabolismo, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcus F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Artrópodes Hematófagos, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo De Meis, Programa de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-590, Brazil Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Entomologia Molecular (INCT-EM), Brazil pedro@bioqmed.ufrj.br gandara@bioqmed.ufrj.br.
authors.forename: Pedro L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015536:Down-Regulation; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D012239:Rhodnius / Q000378:metabolism*; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D019476:Insect Proteins; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D013481:Superoxides
keywords: ROS; Rhodnius prolixus; TOR; amino acids; haem; mitochondria