Abstract
Mosquito hemocytes are blood cells that are fundamental for combating systemic infection. A study published in BMC Genomics shows that hemocyte gene transcription in response to immune challenge is pathogen-specific and reaffirms the primary role of these cells in immunity.
Highlights
Initial work on mosquito hemocytes has included the characterization of transcriptional changes in hemocytes from the mosquito Armigeres subalbatus following infection with the filarial nematode Brugia malayi and in hemocytes from the mosquito Aedes aegypti following infection with live bacteria [5,6]
In a recent article published in BMC Genomics, Baton et al [7] present the first genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of the circulating hemocytes of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae following natural infection with the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei and after immune challenge with heat-killed Escherichia coli and Micrococcus luteus
Immune challenge with Plasmodium or bacteria resulted in the differential regulation of 959 genes, of which immunity-related genes were overrepresented whereas replication/transcription/translation-related genes were underrepresented, further showing that immune function is the primary role of hemocytes (Figure 1)
Summary
Throughout their lifetime, mosquitoes are in danger of acquiring deadly pathogens. During their egg, larval and pupal stages, mosquitoes live in aquatic environments that are often rife with bacteria. Female mosquitoes engage in the dangerous behavior of biting vertebrates and ingesting their blood This is done to acquire the nutrients necessary for the production of large numbers of eggs, but it exposes mosquitoes to bloodborne pathogens, such as Plasmodium, filarial nematodes and arboviruses. Given their fundamental role in immunity, it is surprising that little is known about the biology of mosquito hemocytes. This is probably because they are few in number and are difficult to manipulate. Additional work is needed in other medically important vectors to identify genes that are regulated in response to infection
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