A Novel System for the Launch of Alphavirus RNA Synthesis Reveals a Role for the Imd Pathway in Arthropod Antiviral Response
Autor(es): Avadhanula, Vasanthi; Weasner, Brandon P.; Hardy, Gail G.; Kumar, Justin P.; Hardy, Richard W.
Resumo: Alphaviruses are RNA viruses transmitted between vertebrate hosts by arthropod vectors, primarily mosquitoes. How arthropods counteract alphaviruses or viruses per se is not very well understood. Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful model system for studying innate immunity against bacterial and fungal infections. In this study we report the use of a novel system to analyze replication of Sindbis virus (type species of the alphavirus genus) RNA following expression of a Sindbis virus replicon RNA from the fly genome. We demonstrate deficits in the immune deficiency (Imd) pathway enhance viral replication while mutations in the Toll pathway fail to affect replication. Similar results were observed with intrathoracic injections of whole virus and confirmed in cultured mosquito cells. These findings show that the Imd pathway mediates an antiviral response to Sindbis virus replication. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an antiviral role for the Imd pathway in insects.
Palavras-Chave: Sindbis virus - Infection; Mosquito - Aedes aegypti; Kappa-B kinase; Immune - Response; Drosophila - Melanogaster; Anopheles - Gambiae; Innate immunity; Antibacterial defense; Factor relish; Host - Defense
Imprenta: Plos Pathogens, v. 5, n. 9, 2009
Identificador do objeto digital: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000582
Descritores: Aedes aegypti - Cell ; Aedes aegypti - Genome ; Aedes aegypti - Immune response ; Aedes aegypti - Molecular structure ; Aedes aegypti - RNA ; Aedes aegypti - Viral infections ; Aedes aegypti - virus
Data de publicação: 2009
