Transient knockdown of Anopheles stephensi LRIM1 using RNAi increases Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite salivary gland infections.

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) sporozoites (PfSPZ) can be administered as a highly protective vaccine conferring the highest protection seen to date. Sanaria® PfSPZ vaccines are produced using aseptically reared Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. The bionomics of sporogonic development of P. falciparum in A. stephensi to fully mature salivary gland PfSPZ is thought to be modulated by several components of the mosquito innate immune system. In order to increase salivary gland PfSPZ infections in A. stephensi and thereby increase vaccine production efficiency, a gene knock down approach was used to investigate the activity of the immune deficiency (IMD) signaling pathway downstream effector leucine-rich repeat immune molecule 1 (LRIM1), an antagonist to Plasmodium development. METHODS: Expression of LRIM1 in A. stephensi was reduced following injection of double stranded (ds) RNA into mosquitoes. By combining the Gal4/UAS bipartite system with in vivo expression of short hairpin (sh) RNA coding for LRIM1 reduced expression of LRIM1 was targeted in the midgut, fat body, and salivary glands. RT-qPCR was used to demonstrate fold-changes in gene expression in three transgenic crosses and the effects on P. falciparum infections determined in mosquitoes showing the greatest reduction in LRIM1 expression. RESULTS: LRIM1 expression could be reduced, but not completely silenced, by expression of LRIM1 dsRNA. Infections of P. falciparum oocysts and PfSPZ were consistently and significantly higher in transgenic mosquitoes than wild type controls, with increases in PfSPZ ranging from 2.5- to tenfold. CONCLUSIONS: Plasmodium falciparum infections in A. stephensi can be increased following reduced expression of LRIM1. These data provide the springboard for more precise knockout of LRIM1 for the eventual incorporation of immune-compromised A. stephensi into manufacturing of Sanaria's PfSPZ products.

Biophysical characterization of glycosaminoglycan-IL-7 interactions using SPR.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) interact with a number of cytokines and growth factors thereby playing an essential role in the regulation of many physiological processes. These interactions are important for both normal signal transduction and the regulation of the tissue distribution of cytokines/growth factors. In the present study, we employed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy to dissect the binding interactions between GAGs and murine and human forms of interleukin-7 (IL-7). SPR results revealed that heparin binds with higher affinity to human IL-7 than murine IL-7 through a different kinetic mechanism. The optimal oligosaccharide length of heparin for the interactions to human and murine IL-7 involves a sequence larger than a tetrasaccharide. These results further demonstrate that while IL-7 is principally a heparin/heparan sulfate binding protein, it also interacts with dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfates C, D, and E, indicating that this cytokine preferentially interacts with GAGs having a higher degree of sulfation.