Inhibition of JNK signaling in the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi extends mosquito longevity and improves resistance to Plasmodium falciparum infection
Fig 5
MKP4 transgene transcript and protein expression were midgut-specific and induced by blood feeding in M3 and M4 lines of transgenic female A. stephensi.
(A) Diagram of the transformation construct showing the marker gene EGFP driven by the eye-specific 3XP3 promoter and the A. stephensi MKP4-HA construct driven by the A. gambiae carboxypeptidase (AgCP) promoter and flanked by pBac inverted terminal repeats. (B) EGFP fluorescence in MKP4 transgenic A. stephensi larvae. (C) Transcript levels of the MKP4 transgene and actin in M3 and M4 transgenic lines and non-transgenic (NTG) A. stephensi midgut and carcass (body minus midgut) tissues in non-blood fed (NBF) individuals and at 24 h after blood feeding (BF), and (D) in midgut tissue of M3 and M4 transgenic A. stephensi from 2–72 h post-blood feeding. (E) Transgene protein expression levels in M3 and M4 lines of MKP4 transgenic (TG) and non-transgenic (NTG) A. stephensi midgut and carcass (body minus midgut) tissues before and 24 h after a blood meal. (F) Transgene protein expression patterns in non-blood fed (NBF) transgenic and non-transgenic A. stephensi midgut and carcass and from 6–72 h after blood feeding (BF). Relative MKP4 protein expression levels for all replicates are plotted below. All gene and protein expression assays were replicated with three separate cohorts of mosquitoes.