Abstract
Dengue virus (DENV), the etiological agent of dengue fever, is transmitted to the human host during blood uptake by an infective mosquito. Infection of vector salivary glands and further injection of infectious saliva into the human host are key events of the DENV transmission cycle. However, the molecular mechanisms of DENV entry into the mosquito salivary glands have not been clearly identified. Otherwise, although it was demonstrated for other vector-transmitted pathogens that insect salivary components may interact with host immune agents and impact the establishment of infection, the role of mosquito saliva on DENV infection in human has been only poorly documented. To identify salivary gland molecules which might interact with DENV at these key steps of transmission cycle, we investigated the presence of proteins able to bind DENV in salivary gland extracts (SGE) from two mosquito species. Using virus overlay protein binding assay, we detected several proteins able to bind DENV in SGE from Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes polynesiensis (Marks). The present findings pave the way for the identification of proteins mediating DENV attachment or entry into mosquito salivary glands, and of saliva-secreted proteins those might be bound to the virus at the earliest step of human infection. The present findings might contribute to the identification of new targets for anti-dengue strategies.
Highlights
There is currently no vaccine available against Dengue virus (DENV) and vector control strategies fail to prevent the emergence of dengue epidemics, new anti-dengue strategies need to be explored
A better understanding of the mechanisms and the molecules involved in the key steps of the DENV transmission cycle may lead to the identification of new anti-dengue targets
DENV is transmitted by Aedes (Stegomyia) mosquitoes, principally Ae aegypti and Ae albopictus and some endemic vectors like Ae polynesiensis in French Polynesia [2,3,4]
Summary
As the third millennium begins, classic dengue fever and the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, are still world public health concerns. Four proteins of 77, 58, 54 and 37 kilodaltons (kDa) able to bind to the reference strains of the four DENV serotypes were detected in SGE from Ae aegypti (Figure 1). In SGE from Ae polynesiensis, five proteins of 67, 56, 54, 50 and 48 kDa, were able to bind to DEN1 and DEN4 reference strains (Figure 3) This is the first report on the presence of proteins able to bind to the four DENV serotypes in mosquito salivary gland extracts. The step to the present work would be to characterise the proteins that might be involved in DENV infection of Ae aegypti and Ae polynesiensis salivary glands Once identified, such receptors would constitute key targets for transmission blocking strategies still explored for other vectortransmitted pathogens.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
