ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2015
Anopheles midgut epithelium evades human complement activity by capturing factor H from the blood meal.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond the bite: how mosquito salivary proteins modulate midgut biology and malaria parasite transmission.Current opinion in insect science · 2025Review
- Immunoprotection Provided by Salivary and Intestinal Protein-Based Antigens Against the Ixodid TickVaccines · 2025Article
- Mechanism of complement inhibition by a mosquito protein revealed through cryo-EM.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Yersinia pestis ΔApplied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- Deceiving and escaping complement - the evasive journey of the malaria parasite.Trends in parasitology · 2022Review
- The Defensive Interactions of Prominent Infectious Protozoan Parasites: The Host's Complement System.Biomolecules · 2022Review
- Blood Meals With Active and Heat-Inactivated Serum Modifies the Gene Expression and Microbiome ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Last-come, best served? Mosquito biting order andProceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Complement in malaria: immune evasion strategies and role in protective immunity.FEBS letters · 2020Review
- Article
- Anti-complement activity in salivary glands and midgut of Chagas disease vector, Panstrongylus megistus (Hemiptera, Triatominae).Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo · 2019Article
- Complement Evasion: An Effective Strategy That Parasites Utilize to Survive in the Host.Frontiers in microbiology · 2019Review
- Inhibition of the complement system by saliva of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis.Insect biochemistry and molecular biology · 2018Article
- Complement factor H in host defense and immune evasion.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2017Review
- Article
- The Sand Fly Salivary Protein Lufaxin Inhibits the Early Steps of the Alternative Pathway of Complement by Direct Binding to the Proconvertase C3b-B.Frontiers in immunology · 2017Article
- Evolution and Function of Thioester-Containing Proteins and the Complement System in the Innate Immune Response.Frontiers in immunology · 2017Review
- An Inhibitor of the Alternative Pathway of Complement in Saliva of New World Anopheline Mosquitoes.Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) · 2016Article
- The development of malaria parasites in the mosquito midgut.Cellular microbiology · 2016Review
- Human C5a Protein Participates in the Mosquito Immune Response Against Dengue Virus.Journal of medical entomology · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hematophagous vectors strictly require ingesting blood from their hosts to complete their life cycles. Exposure of the alimentary canal of these vectors to the host immune effectors necessitates efficient counteractive measures by hematophagous vectors. The Anopheles mosquito transmitting the malaria parasite is an example of hematophagous vectors that within seconds can ingest human blood double its weight. The innate immune defense mechanisms, like the complement system, in the human blood should thereby immediately react against foreign cells in the mosquito midgut. A prerequisite for complement activation is that the target cells lack complement regulators on their surfaces. In this work, we analyzed whether human complement is active in the mosquito midgut, and how the mosquito midgut cells protect themselves against complement attack. We found that complement remained active for a considerable time and was able to kill microbes within the mosquito midgut. However, the Anopheles mosquito midgut cells were not injured. These cells were found to protect themselves by capturing factor H, the main soluble inhibitor of the alternative complement pathway. Factor H inhibited complement on the midgut cells by promoting inactivation of C3b to iC3b and preventing the activity of the alternative pathway amplification C3 convertase enzyme. An interference of the FH regulatory activity by monoclonal antibodies, carried to the midgut via blood, resulted in increased mosquito mortality and reduced fecundity. By using a ligand blotting assay, a putative mosquito midgut FH receptor could be detected. Thereby, we have identified a novel mechanism whereby mosquitoes can tolerate human blood.
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