Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity
Abstract For successful transmission, the malaria parasite must traverse tissue epithelia and survive attack from the insect’s innate immune system. Hemocytes play a multitude of roles in mosquitoes, including defense against invading pathogens. Here, we show that hemocytes of the major malaria vect...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56313-y |
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| _version_ | 1823861842672353280 |
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| author | Victor Cardoso-Jaime George Dimopoulos |
| author_facet | Victor Cardoso-Jaime George Dimopoulos |
| author_sort | Victor Cardoso-Jaime |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract For successful transmission, the malaria parasite must traverse tissue epithelia and survive attack from the insect’s innate immune system. Hemocytes play a multitude of roles in mosquitoes, including defense against invading pathogens. Here, we show that hemocytes of the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by maintaining midgut epithelial integrity by controlling cell proliferation upon blood feeding. The mosquito’s hemocytes also control the midgut microbiota and immune gene expression. Our study unveils novel hemocyte functions that are exploited by the human malaria parasite to evade the mosquito’s immune system. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8c0907efd854401b6c4a451def4b31a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8c0907efd854401b6c4a451def4b31a2025-02-09T12:45:45ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-02-0116111410.1038/s41467-025-56313-yAnopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrityVictor Cardoso-Jaime0George Dimopoulos1W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Malaria Research Institute, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins UniversityW. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Malaria Research Institute, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins UniversityAbstract For successful transmission, the malaria parasite must traverse tissue epithelia and survive attack from the insect’s innate immune system. Hemocytes play a multitude of roles in mosquitoes, including defense against invading pathogens. Here, we show that hemocytes of the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by maintaining midgut epithelial integrity by controlling cell proliferation upon blood feeding. The mosquito’s hemocytes also control the midgut microbiota and immune gene expression. Our study unveils novel hemocyte functions that are exploited by the human malaria parasite to evade the mosquito’s immune system.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56313-y |
| spellingShingle | Victor Cardoso-Jaime George Dimopoulos Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity Nature Communications |
| title | Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| title_full | Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| title_fullStr | Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| title_short | Anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| title_sort | anopheles gambiae phagocytic hemocytes promote plasmodium falciparum infection by regulating midgut epithelial integrity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56313-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT victorcardosojaime anophelesgambiaephagocytichemocytespromoteplasmodiumfalciparuminfectionbyregulatingmidgutepithelialintegrity AT georgedimopoulos anophelesgambiaephagocytichemocytespromoteplasmodiumfalciparuminfectionbyregulatingmidgutepithelialintegrity |