The anti-immune dengue subgenomic flaviviral RNA is present in vesicles in mosquito saliva and is associated with increased infectivity.

ABSTRACT: Mosquito transmission of dengue viruses to humans starts with infection of skin resident cells at the biting site. There is great interest in identifying transmission-enhancing factors in mosquito saliva in order to counteract them. Here we report the discovery of high levels of the anti-immune subgenomic flaviviral RNA (sfRNA) in dengue virus 2-infected mosquito saliva. We established that sfRNA is present in saliva using three different methods: northern blot, RT-qPCR and RNA sequencing. We next show that salivary sfRNA is protected in detergent-sensitive compartments, likely extracellular vesicles. In support of this hypothesis, we visualized viral RNAs in vesicles in mosquito saliva and noted a marked enrichment of signal from 3'UTR sequences, which is consistent with the presence of s

SUBMITTER: Yeh SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10062553 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature