Insulin enhances mosquito immunity to flavivirus

Mammalian insulin can activate the mosquito's antiviral immune pathway, which enhances its ability to inhibit West Nile virus, dengue virus and Zika virus, according to a study published in the journal Cell report Tuesday The findings could help develop interventions to reduce mosquito borne infections, the researchers said West Nile virus, dengue virus and Zika virus are representative viruses of flavivirus West Nile virus and dengue virus infection can cause serious diseases and even death, while Zika virus infection in pregnant women can lead to congenital defects of newborn, namely microcephaly These viruses are transmitted by blood sucking arthropods, and mosquito bites are the most common way of human infection If the amount of virus carried by mosquitoes can be reduced, the probability of human infection with related diseases will be greatly reduced In the new study, a team led by researchers from Washington State University in the United States, using gene screening methods, found an insulin-like receptor, which is an integral part of the immune system against arbovirus infection, and when activated, inhibits the replication of West Nile virus in fruit flies The researchers then found that feeding Culex mosquitoes blood rich in insulin caused the same reaction Subsequent tests showed that activation of this receptor can also effectively inhibit dengue virus and Zika virus in Culex mosquito cells Previously, scientists have known that insulin can enhance the immune response of mosquitoes, but new research has found for the first time that insulin is linked to a specific immune response pathway called JAK / stat Insulin signals activate JAK / STAT pathway through extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) and control the infection of Culex pipiens by comprehensive immune response The researchers point out that their new research shows that insulin signaling plays a crucial role in insect antiviral response to human pathogens If the immune system of mosquitoes can be activated by insulin receptor, the virus load of mosquitoes can be reduced; if the virus carried by mosquitoes is reduced, the virus transmitted when they bite will be reduced, and the bitten will probably not get sick