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Engineered Aedes aegypti JAK/STAT Pathway-Mediated Immunity to Dengue Virus
- Source :
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 1, p e0005187 (2017), PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2017.
-
Abstract
- We have developed genetically modified Ae. aegypti mosquitoes that activate the conserved antiviral JAK/STAT pathway in the fat body tissue, by overexpressing either the receptor Dome or the Janus kinase Hop by the blood feeding-induced vitellogenin (Vg) promoter. Transgene expression inhibits infection with several dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in the midgut as well as systemically and in the salivary glands. The impact of the transgenes Dome and Hop on mosquito longevity was minimal, but it resulted in a compromised fecundity when compared to wild-type mosquitoes. Overexpression of Dome and Hop resulted in profound transcriptome regulation in the fat body tissue as well as the midgut tissue, pinpointing several expression signatures that reflect mechanisms of DENV restriction. Our transcriptome studies and reverse genetic analyses suggested that enrichment of DENV restriction factor and depletion of DENV host factor transcripts likely accounts for the DENV inhibition, and they allowed us to identify novel factors that modulate infection. Interestingly, the fat body-specific activation of the JAK/STAT pathway did not result in any enhanced resistance to Zika virus (ZIKV) or chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection, thereby indicating a possible specialization of the pathway’s antiviral role.<br />Author Summary Dengue has represented a significant public health burden for a number of decades, and given the lack of dengue-specific drugs and limited availability of licensed vaccine, new methods for prevention and control are urgently needed. Here, we investigated whether genetic manipulation of the mosquitoes’ native JAK/STAT pathway-mediated anti-DENV defense system could be used to render mosquitoes more resistant to infection. We generated Ae. aegypti mosquitoes overexpressing the JAK/STAT pathway components Dome and Hop under the control of a bloodmeal-inducible, fat body-specific vitellogenin (Vg) promoter. These genetically modified mosquitoes showed an increased resistance to DENV infection, likely because of higher expression of DENV restriction factors and lower expression of DENV host factors, as indicated by transcriptome analyses. Expression of the transgenes had a minimal impact on mosquito longevity; however, it significantly impaired the mosquitoes’ fecundity. Interestingly, bloodmeal-inducible fat body-specific overexpression of either Hop or Dome did not affect mosquito permissiveness to either ZIKV or CHIKV infection, suggesting a possible specialization of JAK/STAT pathway antiviral defenses. Thus, our study is the first to provide a proof-of-concept that genetic engineering of the mosquitoes’ JAK/STAT immune pathway can be used to render this host more resistant to DENV infection.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Viral Diseases
Epidemiology
Physiology
viruses
Fat Body
Gene Expression
Disease Vectors
Dengue virus
medicine.disease_cause
Mosquitoes
Biochemistry
Dengue
Fats
Transcriptome
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
Aedes
Medicine and Health Sciences
Cell Cycle and Cell Division
Chikungunya
Host factor
Gene Ontologies
lcsh:Public aspects of medicine
JAK-STAT signaling pathway
virus diseases
Genomics
Hematology
Lipids
Body Fluids
3. Good health
Insects
STAT Transcription Factors
Blood
Infectious Diseases
Cell Processes
Insect Proteins
Anatomy
Genetic Engineering
Transcriptome Analysis
Research Article
Neglected Tropical Diseases
lcsh:Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
Arthropoda
lcsh:RC955-962
030231 tropical medicine
Aedes aegypti
Biology
Virus
03 medical and health sciences
Genetics
medicine
Animals
Humans
Gene Regulation
Janus Kinases
Organisms
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Biology and Life Sciences
Computational Biology
Chikungunya Infection
lcsh:RA1-1270
Cell Biology
Dengue Virus
Genome Analysis
Tropical Diseases
biology.organism_classification
Invertebrates
Virology
Insect Vectors
030104 developmental biology
Janus kinase
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19352735 and 19352727
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....41441abf7225cece76c77d087b1261e6