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Guzmán LE, Wijetunge AN, Riske BF, Massani BB, Riehle MA, Jewett JC. Chemical Probes to Interrogate the Extreme Environment of Mosquito Larval Guts. J Am Chem Soc 2024; 146:8480-8485. [PMID: 38484471 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c14598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Mosquito control methods are vital to curtail the spread of life-threatening illnesses, such as dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever. Vector control technologies must be selective to minimize deleterious effects on our ecosystem. Successful methods that control mosquito larva populations utilize the uniquely high alkaline nature of the midgut. Here, we present novel protected triazabutadienes (pTBD) that are deprotected under basic conditions of the larval midgut, releasing an aryl diazonium ion (ADI) that results in protein modification. The probes contain a bioorthogonal terminal alkyne handle, enabling a selective Cu-click reaction with an azidofluorophore for quantification by SDS PAGE and visualization using fluorescence microscopy. A control TBD, unable to release an ADI, did not label the midgut. We envision our chemical probes will aid in the development of new selective mosquito control methods, thus preventing the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses with minimal impact on other organisms in the ecosystem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay E Guzmán
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Anjalee N Wijetunge
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Brendan F Riske
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Brooke B Massani
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - Michael A Riehle
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
| | - John C Jewett
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, United States
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Guzmán LE, Wijetunge AN, Riske BF, Massani BB, Riehle MA, Jewett JC. Chemical probes to interrogate the extreme environment of mosquito larval guts. bioRxiv 2023:2023.12.27.573438. [PMID: 38234773 PMCID: PMC10793467 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.27.573438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
Mosquito control methods are vital for the spread of life-threatening illnesses such as dengue fever, malaria, and yellow fever. Vector control technologies must be selective to minimize deleterious effects to our ecosystem. Successful methods that control mosquito larva populations utilize the uniquely high alkaline nature of the midgut. Here, we present novel protected triazabutadienes (pTBD) which are deprotected under basic conditions of the larval midgut, releasing an aryl diazonium ion (ADI) that results in protein modification. The probes contain a bioorthogonal terminal alkyne handle, enabling a selective Cu-click reaction with an azido-fluorophore for quantification by SDS PAGE and visualization using fluorescence microscopy. A control TBD, unable to release an ADI, did not label the midgut. We envision our chemical probes will aid in the development of new selective mosquito control methods thus preventing the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses with minimal impact on other organisms in the ecosystem.
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Isoe J, Simington CJ, Oscherwitz ME, Peterson AJ, Rascón AA, Massani BB, Miesfeld RL, Riehle MA. Characterization of essential eggshell proteins from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. BMC Biol 2023; 21:214. [PMID: 37833714 PMCID: PMC10576393 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01721-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Up to 40% of the world population live in areas where mosquitoes capable of transmitting the dengue virus, including Aedes aegypti, coexist with humans. Understanding how mosquito egg development and oviposition are regulated at the molecular level may provide new insights into novel mosquito control strategies. Previously, we identified a protein named eggshell organizing factor 1 (EOF1) that when knocked down with RNA interference (RNAi) resulted in non-melanized and fragile eggs that did not contain viable embryos. RESULTS In this current study, we performed a comprehensive RNAi screen of putative A. aegypti eggshell proteins to identify additional proteins that interact with intracellular EOF1. We identified several proteins essential for eggshell formation in A. aegypti and characterized their phenotypes through a combination of molecular and biochemical approaches. We found that Nasrat, Closca, and Polehole structural proteins, together with the Nudel serine protease, are indispensable for eggshell melanization and egg viability. While all four proteins are predominantly expressed in ovaries of adult females, Nudel messenger RNA (mRNA) expression is highly upregulated in response to blood feeding. Furthermore, we identified four additional secreted eggshell enzymes that regulated mosquito eggshell formation and melanization. These enzymes included three dopachrome-converting enzymes (DCEs) and one cysteine protease. All eight of these eggshell proteins were essential for proper eggshell formation. Interestingly, their eggshell surface topologies in response to RNAi did not phenocopy the effect of RNAi-EOF1, suggesting that additional mechanisms may influence how EOF1 regulates eggshell formation and melanization. CONCLUSIONS While our studies did not identify a definitive regulator of EOF1, we did identify eight additional proteins involved in mosquito eggshell formation that may be leveraged for future control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Isoe
- Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
| | - Carter J Simington
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Present address: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA94720, USA
| | - Max E Oscherwitz
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Present address: Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA
| | - Alyssa J Peterson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Alberto A Rascón
- Department of Chemistry, San José State University, San José, CA, 95192, USA
- Present address: School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Brooke B Massani
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Roger L Miesfeld
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Michael A Riehle
- Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
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