Dengue virus infection induces chromatin remodeling at locus AAEL006536 in the midgut of Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Objective. To identify and characterize Aedes aegypti’s AAEL006536 gene proximal upstream cis-regulatory sequences activated by dengue virus infection. Materials and methods. A. aegypti Rockefeller strain mosquitoes were blood fed or infected with dengue virus 2. Open chromatinprofiling was then carried out in pools of midguts from each group of mosquitoes. Results. The proximal upstream region does not contain open chromatin sites in the midguts of blood-fed mosquitoes as detected by FAIRE-qPCR. In contrast, two cis-regulatory sites were identified in the same upstream region of dengue virus-infected mosquito midguts. The distal sequence contains STAT-, REL- and C/EBP-type transcription factor binding sites. Conclusion. The activation of two proximal cis-regulatory sequences, induced by dengue virus infection, is mediated by chromatin remodeling mechanisms. Binding sites suggest a dengue virus infectioninduced participation of immunity transcription factors in the up-regulation of this gene. This suggests the participation of the AAEL006536 gene in the mosquito’s antiviral innate immune response.

Keywords

• Dengue virus
• A. aegypti
• insect vector
• transcriptional activation
• chromatin
• viral infection
• transcription factor
• binding site
• innate immunity