AI Summary
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have discovered that a protein in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes helps them stay healthy and active when infected with disease-causing viruses. This finding could lead to new methods for reducing the transmission of diseases like dengue, yellow fever, and Zika. The study suggests that targeting this protein could make mosquitoes more susceptible to viruses, reducing their ability to spread disease. Further research is needed to explore this potential strategy.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have made an important finding about Aedes aegypti mosquitoes-;one that could one day lead to better methods for reducing the mosquito-to-human transmission of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other harmful and sometimes deadly viruses.
Ae. aegypti mosquitoes do not succumb to these viruses when infected and continue to move and feed normally. As such, the infected mosquitoes can pass their viral cargoes on to humans. The researchers discovered that an Ae. aegypti protein, Argonaute 2, has a key role-;via several biological mechanisms-;in keeping mosquitoes healthy and active despite these infections.
The discovery represents a significant advance in understanding mosquito biology. It also hints at a strategy that would aim to shut down Ae. aegypti mosquitoes’ defenses whenever they become infected by certain viruses-;killing the mosquitoes and thereby reducing the transmission of those viruses by Ae. aegypti to humans. Instead of making mosquitoes more resistant to the viruses, the discovery opens a possible path for making mosquitoes more susceptible and less tolerant to virus infection, which would impair their ability to transmit disease.
The research was published online September 18 in Nature Communications.
Researchers have long wondered why Ae. aegypti mosquitoes don’t get sick when they are infected by these viruses-;our findings effectively solve this mystery and suggest a potential new mosquito-based disease control strategy that merits further study.”
George Dimopoulos, PhD, study senior author, professor in the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research