Dengue virus type 2 infections of Aedes aegypti are modulated by the mosquito's RNA interference pathway.

ABSTRACT: A number of studies have shown that both innate and adaptive immune defense mechanisms greatly influence the course of human dengue virus (DENV) infections, but little is known about the innate immune response of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti to arbovirus infection. We present evidence here that a major component of the mosquito innate immune response, RNA interference (RNAi), is an important modulator of mosquito infections. The RNAi response is triggered by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which occurs in the cytoplasm as a result of positive-sense RNA virus infection, leading to production of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). These siRNAs are instrumental in degradation of viral mRNA with sequence homology to the dsRNA trigger and thereby inhibition of virus replication. We show that alt

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Vargas I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2633610 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature