title: A Mesh-Duox pathway regulates homeostasis in the insect gut.
abstract: The metazoan gut harbours complex communities of commensal and symbiotic bacterial microorganisms. The quantity and quality of these microorganisms fluctuate dynamically in response to physiological changes. The mechanisms that hosts have developed to respond to and manage such dynamic changes and maintain homeostasis remain largely unknown. Here, we identify a dual oxidase (Duox)-regulating pathway that contributes to maintaining homeostasis in the gut of both Aedes aegypti and Drosophila melanogaster. We show that a gut-membrane-associated protein, named Mesh, plays an important role in controlling the proliferation of gut bacteria by regulating Duox expression through an Arrestin-mediated MAPK JNK/ERK phosphorylation cascade. Expression of both Mesh and Duox is correlated with the gut bacterial microbiome, which, in mosquitoes, increases dramatically soon after a blood meal. Ablation of Mesh abolishes Duox induction, leading to an increase of the gut microbiome load. Our study reveals that the Mesh-mediated signalling pathway is a central homeostatic mechanism of the insect gut.
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|SZCDC-SUSTech Joint Key Laboratory for Tropical Diseases, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China.|Sino-French Hoffmann Institute, School of Basic Medical Science, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|College of Animal Science, Tarim University, Xinjiang 843300, China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Rudian
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Yibin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York 10595, USA.
authors.forename: Penghua
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Guanjun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.|SZCDC-SUSTech Joint Key Laboratory for Tropical Diseases, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China.
authors.forename: Gong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D000074623:Dual Oxidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D006706:Homeostasis; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000074623:Dual Oxidases