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Aedes Agypti Mosquito’s Immune System Revealed
June 22, 2007 at 3:47 PM
Chikungunya News
By working to understand as much as possible about these genes, and the way they interact with specific pathogens, we hope to gain a more complete understanding of the mechanisms by which a pathogen either survives inside the insect body, or is killed by the insect’s defences.”
The international research team, led by Imperial PhD student Robert Waterhouse, focused on comparing the immunity genes of the Aedes mosquito with similar groups of genes in the harmless fruit fly and the Anopheles mosquito that transmits malaria.
When comparing the two different mosquitoes, the scientists found some similarities in the genes controlling their respective immune systems, but also numerous differences. The team aims to discover which of these genetic differences could explain why one type of mosquito transmits dengue and yellow fevers, while the other transmits malaria. Beyond the present descriptive work, functional studies will be needed to clarify exactly how this happens.
“This study made us realise that the immune systems of insects are not static but evolve and differentiate rapidly, most likely in response to the different pathogens which each insect species encounters”, says Dr Christophides.
Professor Fotis Kafatos, senior researcher of Imperial’s immunogenomics lab and co-author of the paper, explains the significance of their study, saying: “Understanding the genetics behind pathogen/immune system interactions in disease vector mosquitoes may help us understand why, for example, some types of mosquitoes can transmit a particular human pathogen while others cannot.
If those that cannot have evolved an effective immune system that fights off the pathogen, we may be able to use this knowledge to enhance specific reactions of the immune systems in other mosquitoes to control the spread of the disease”.
Source-Eurekalert
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