Nature Communications (Nov 2017)

Blood meal acquisition enhances arbovirus replication in mosquitoes through activation of the GABAergic system

  • Yibin Zhu,
  • Rudian Zhang,
  • Bei Zhang,
  • Tongyan Zhao,
  • Penghua Wang,
  • Guodong Liang,
  • Gong Cheng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01244-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Transmission of many human viruses depends on replication in their mosquito vectors. Here, Zhu et al. show that glutamic acid digested from the blood meal activates GABA signaling, resulting in suppression of antiviral innate immunity and increased virus replication in mosquitoes.