Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Zou Z
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2587535 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Zou Zhen Z Shin Sang Woon SW Alvarez Kanwal S KS Bian Guowu G Kokoza Vladimir V Raikhel Alexander S AS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20081114 47
Prophenoloxidases (PPOs) are key enzymes of the melanization reaction, which is a prominent defense mechanism of arthropods. The mosquito Aedes aegypti has ten PPO genes in the genome, four of which (PPO1, PPO3, PPO5, and PPO8) were expressed in response to microbial infection. Cactus depletion resulted in transcriptional activation of these four genes, suggesting this up-regulation to be under the control of the Toll pathway. The silencing of Cactus also led to developmental arrest and death of ...[more]