Dataset Information

The salivary gland-specific apyrase of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is a member of the 5'-nucleotidase family.

ABSTRACT: The saliva of hematophagous insects contains a variety of pharmacologically active substances that counteract the normal hemostatic response to injury in vertebrate hosts. The yellow-fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, secretes an apyrase that inhibits ADP-dependent platelet aggregation. Apyrase was purified as an active enzyme from adult female salivary glands and subjected to tryptic digestion, and the resulting peptides were sequenced. The amino acid sequences obtained match the conceptual translation product of a cDNA clone isolated from an adult female salivary gland library. Sequence comparisons indicate similarities with a ubiquitous family of 5'-nucleotidases. The mosquito protein differs from other members of the family by lacking a carboxyl-terminal hydrophobic domain. The apparent conversion of a gene encoding an enzyme involved in a common metabolic event at the cellular level to a gene involved in the antihemostatic response of mosquitoes illustrates one way this particular insect has adapted to the challenges of bloodfeeding.

SUBMITTER: Champagne DE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC42686 | biostudies-other | 1995 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The salivary gland-specific apyrase of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is a member of the 5'-nucleotidase family.

Champagne D E DE Smartt C T CT Ribeiro J M JM James A A AA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19950101 3

The saliva of hematophagous insects contains a variety of pharmacologically active substances that counteract the normal hemostatic response to injury in vertebrate hosts. The yellow-fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, secretes an apyrase that inhibits ADP-dependent platelet aggregation. Apyrase was purified as an active enzyme from adult female salivary glands and subjected to tryptic digestion, and the resulting peptides were sequenced. The amino acid sequences obtained match the conceptual transla ...[more]

PMID: 7846038

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundDespite the devastating global impact of mosquito-borne illnesses on human health, very little is known about mosquito developmental biology. In this investigation, functional genetic analysis of embryonic salivary gland development was performed in Aedes aegypti, the dengue and yellow fever vector and an emerging model for vector mosquito development. Although embryonic salivary gland development has been well studied in Drosophila melanogaster, little is known about this process in mosquitoes or other arthropods.ResultsMosquitoes possess orthologs of many genes that regulate Drosophila melanogaster embryonic salivary gland development. The expression patterns of a large subset of these genes were assessed during Ae. aegypti development. These studies identified a set of molecular genetic markers for the developing mosquito salivary gland. Analysis of marker expression allowed for tracking of the progression of Ae. aegypti salivary gland development in embryos. In Drosophila, the salivary glands develop from placodes located in the ventral neuroectoderm. However, in Ae. aegypti, salivary marker genes are not expressed in placode-like patterns in the ventral neuroectoderm. Instead, marker gene expression is detected in salivary gland rudiments adjacent to the proventriculus. These observations highlighted the need for functional genetic characterization of mosquito salivary gland development. An siRNA- mediated knockdown strategy was therefore employed to investigate the role of one of the marker genes, cyclic-AMP response element binding protein A (Aae crebA), during Ae. aegypti salivary gland development. These experiments revealed that Aae crebA encodes a key transcriptional regulator of the secretory pathway in the developing Ae. aegypti salivary gland.ConclusionsThe results of this investigation indicated that the initiation of salivary gland development in Ae. aegypti significantly differs from that of D. melanogaster. Despite these differences, some elements of salivary gland development, including the ability of CrebA to regulate secretory gene expression, are conserved between the two species. These studies underscore the need for further analysis of mosquito developmental genetics and may foster comparative studies of salivary gland development in additional insect species.

Dataset Information

The salivary gland-specific apyrase of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is a member of the 5'-nucleotidase family.

Publications

The salivary gland-specific apyrase of the mosquito Aedes aegypti is a member of the 5'-nucleotidase family.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets