IMMUNE RESPONSES TO PLASMODIUM IN ANOPHELES GAMBIAE

疟疾，一种由该属原生寄生虫引起的疾病 疟原虫是通过蚊子传播给人类的。每年，数以百计的 数以百万计的人感染了这种微生物，200-300万人 结果是死亡，主要是年幼的儿童。问题是最严重的 在非洲，现在正在恶化，因为越来越多的抗药性 寄生虫对用于预防和控制的廉价药物 过去的事。第二个重要的控制策略是减少蚊子 由于使用杀虫剂，种群也受到威胁，因为 杀虫剂抗药性、成本增加和训练有素的人员流失。 一个新的研究目标是蚊子之间的相互作用 还有寄生虫。这里提出的研究的长期目标是 了解蚊子间不相容的分子基础 和疟疾寄生虫，因为这可能会建议如何增强 通过基因或化学物质导致不相容的机制 对媒介蚊子的操纵。拟议的研究将集中在 描述蚊子体内涉及的蛋白质和基因 体液免疫反应，可导致寄生虫死亡。二 参与动植物黑化和杀灭的蛋白质 冈比亚按蚊将被克隆和鉴定，并将进行检测 使用病毒转导系统的寄生虫黑化。其他蛋白质 而参与对寄生虫的反应的基因将是 体内放射性标记的电泳法鉴定 多肽与基因表达产物的差异显示 寄生虫感染和体液免疫反应。这些分子将 在体外对寄生虫的杀灭能力进行表征和测试 在活体内。

Malaria, a disease caused by parasitic protozoans in the genus Plasmodium, is transmitted by mosquitoes to humans. Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with this organism and 2-3 million fatalities result, mostly in young children. The problem is most severe in Africa, and is now worsening because of the increasing resistance of parasites to the inexpensive drugs used for prevention and control in the past. A second important strategy for control, reducing mosquito populations through insecticide use, is also threatened because of insecticide resistance, increasing costs and loss of trained personnel. A new target for research has been the interaction between the mosquito and the parasite. The long-term goal of the research presented here is to understand the molecular basis for incompatibility between mosquitoes and malaria parasites because this may suggest ways to enhance mechanisms that cause incompatibility through genetic or chemical manipulation of vector mosquitoes. The proposed research will focus on characterizing proteins and genes that are involved in the mosquito's humoral immune responses, which can lead to the death of parasites. Two proteins that are involved in melanization and killing of ookinetes in Anopheles gambiaewill be cloned and characterized and will be tested for parasite melanization using viral transduction systems. Other proteins and genes that are involved in the responses to parasites will be identified by electrophoretic analysis of in vivo radiolabeled polypeptides and differential display of mRNA molecules produced during parasite infections and humoral immune responses. These molecules will be characterized and tested for parasite-killing ability in vitro and in vivo.