Abstract
Flavivirus Infection and Regulation of Host Immune and Tissue Homeostasis in Insects.
Highlights
Flaviviruses are enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses and major human pathogens
In Ae. aegypti, Yellow Fever virus (YFV) replicates in the fat body and other organs and feeding mosquitoes with a Dengue virus (DENV)-infected blood meal leads to activation of autophagy in the this tissue and the midgut and increases the expression of genes related to apoptosis such as the effector caspase Casps7 [17,18,19]
Because host innate immune responses are evolutionary conserved across many phyla, investigating the effect of flavivirus infection on the immune signaling and function of animal models is informative because it can lead to the identification of anti-flavivirus immune processes in humans
Summary
Flaviviruses are enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses and major human pathogens. They are responsible for causing outbreaks and they represent a serious health issue worldwide [1]. Aegypti mosquitoes infected with ZIKV activate the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism by upregulating several virus-produced short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs and microRNAs Many of the latter are regulated by DENV and WNVs, but not by the alphavirus Chikungunya, indicating conservation in the mosquito response to flavivirus infection [5]. Such information is critical because it has the potential to lead to the development of novel therapeutics that will be directed against the ability of flaviviruses to multiply in certain insect organs. This will be valuable knowledge for understanding and potentially predicting the severity and extent of flavivirus infection and the efficiency of transmission
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have