Immune responsiveness in vector insects

Hoffmann, Jules A.

doi:10.1073/pnas.94.21.11152

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…They appear to be well-conserved, evolutionally ancient molecules useful for the survival of vertebrates and invertebrates (23,24,46,50). These peptides respond differently from those of antibiotics and currently used chemotherapeutic drugs.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Expression of defensin-like proteins has also been claimed for several ticks (9,15,24,27,34,42,44); however, their parasiticidal mechanisms in insect and tick vectors still remain unclear. Molecules operating in the innate immune system of numerous vectors (4,11,14,21,23,41) may be candidates for the development of a chemotherapeutic effective against arthropod-borne diseases.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Babesial Vector Tick Defensin againstBabesiasp. Parasites

et al. 2007

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Antimicrobial peptides are major components of host innate immunity, a well-conserved, evolutionarily ancient defensive mechanism. Infectious disease-bearing vector ticks are thought to possess specific defense molecules against the transmitted pathogens that have been acquired during their evolution. We found in the tick Haemaphysalis longicornis a novel parasiticidal peptide named longicin that may have evolved from a common ancestral peptide resembling spider and scorpion toxins. H. longicornis is the primary vector for Babesia sp. parasites in Japan. Longicin also displayed bactericidal and fungicidal properties that resemble those of defensin homologues from invertebrates and vertebrates. Longicin showed a remarkable ability to inhibit the proliferation of merozoites, an erythrocyte blood stage of equine Babesia equi, by killing the parasites. Longicin was localized at the surface of the Babesia sp. parasites, as demonstrated by confocal microscopic analysis. In an in vivo experiment, longicin induced significant reduction of parasitemia in animals infected with the zoonotic and murine B. microti. Moreover, RNA interference data demonstrated that endogenous longicin is able to directly kill the canine B. gibsoni, thus indicating that it may play a role in regulating the vectorial capacity in the vector tick H. longicornis. Theoretically, longicin may serve as a model for the development of chemotherapeutic compounds against tick-borne disease organisms.

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confidence: 99%

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Babesial Vector Tick Defensin againstBabesiasp. Parasites

et al. 2007

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“…In response to pathogen invasion, insects produce a battery of inducible antibacterial peptides, which are rapidly induced and synthesized in the fat body and hemocytes with their gene expression by intracellular signaling pathways and released into the hemolymph (Boman, 1991;Fearon and Locksley, 1996;Hoffmann, 1997). The antibacterial peptides are key components of the innate immunity response of insects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Induction, selection and antibacterial activity of the antibacterial peptides from lepidopteran insect cultured cell lines

et al. 2008

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We induced 3 cell lines that were in vitro cultured from Lepidoptera with heat inactivated Escherichia coli DH 5a to stimulate the antibacterial peptide followed by antibacterial activity assay, induction dynamic research and Tricine sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Tricine SDS-PAGE) experiment. The antibacterial activity of the induced BTI-Tn-5B1 cell line was the highest, and the antibacterial activity increased gradually to the highest level in 16 hours after stimulation. A new antibacterial peptide with a molecular weight of about 8000 Da was preferentially induced in Trichoplusia ni BTI-Tn-5B1 cells in 16 hours after stimulation. Antibacterial activity assays indicated that it had inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli K 12 D 31 and Salmonella derby. It has especially strong inhibition against Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli K 12 D 31 and Salmonella derby.

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“…The role of mosquito defensins in malaria infection is better described compared to human defensins (Dixit et al 2008;Hoffmann 1997;Meredith et al 2008). Defensin expression, constitutive in mosquitoes midgut, is further induced by malaria infection (Richman et al 1997;Vizioli et al 2001b).…”

Section: Defensinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Lysozyme: Antimicrobial Peptides Against Malaria

D’Alessandro

Tullio

Giribaldi

2014

Human and Mosquito Lysozymes

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Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short amino acidic sequences with less than 100 residues. They are the components of the innate immune system not only in humans but also in plants, insects, and primitive multicellular organisms. Their role is to counteract the microorganisms, which could be potentially pathogenic for the host. AMPs active against viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites have been described. Among the antiparasitic AMPs reported so far, some peptides affect Plasmodium development in different phases of the biological cycle, from asexual blood stages to sexual stages in the mosquito, where AMPs can block ookinetes viability or oocyst formation. AMPs with antimalarial activity derive from different organisms, especially insects, as well as amphibians. In malaria research, AMPs have been mainly proposed for the engineering of mosquitoes or parasites to reduce or interrupt the malaria parasite transmission. In this chapter, the different classes of antimalarial AMPs (defensins, cecropins, dermaseptins) or single peptides (scorpine, melittin, gambicin) are described. 91

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Immune responsiveness in vector insects

Cited by 25 publications

References 15 publications

Babesial Vector Tick Defensin againstBabesiasp. Parasites

Babesial Vector Tick Defensin againstBabesiasp. Parasites

Induction, selection and antibacterial activity of the antibacterial peptides from lepidopteran insect cultured cell lines

Beyond Lysozyme: Antimicrobial Peptides Against Malaria

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