Journal article
Semliki Forest virus strongly reduces mosquito host defence signaling
R Fragkoudis, Y Chi, RWC Siu, G Barry, G Attarzadeh-Yazdi, A Merits, AA Nash, JK Fazakerley, A Kohl
Insect Molecular Biology | BLACKWELL PUBLISHING | Published : 2008
Abstract
The Alphavirus genus within the Togaviridae family contains several important mosquito-borne arboviruses. Other than the antiviral activity of RNAi, relatively little is known about alphavirus interactions with insect cell defences. Here we show that Semliki Forest virus (SFV) infection of Aedes albopictus-derived U4.4 mosquito cells reduces cellular gene expression. Activation prior to SFV infection of pathways involving STAT/IMD, but not Toll signaling reduced subsequent virus gene expression and RNA levels. These pathways are therefore not only able to mediate protective responses against bacteria but also arboviruses. However, SFV infection of mosquito cells did not result in activation ..
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Awarded by Wellcome Trust
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank T. Ahola and L. Kaariainen (University of Helsinki, Finland) for antibodies and clones, M. Zeidler (University of Sheffield, UK) and J.-L. Imler (Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France) for reporter genes, R. Hernandez and D. T. Brown (NCSU, Raleigh, USA) for cell lines. We also thank F. Weber (University of Freiburg, FRG) for critical reading of this manuscript. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 079699/Z/06/Z].