Work

A dynamic paracellular pathway serves diuresis in mosquito Malpighian tubules

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Female mosquitoes gorge on vertebrate blood, a rich nutrient source for developing eggs, but gorging meals increase the risk of predation. Mosquitoes are quick to reduce the flight payload with a potent diuresis. Diuretic peptides of the insect kinin family induce a tenfold reduction in the paracellular resistance of Malpighian tubules and increase the paracellular permeation of Cl(-), the counterion of the transepithelial secretion of Na(+) and K(+). As a result, the transepithelial secretion of NaCl and KCl and water increases. Insect kinins signal the opening of the paracellular pathway via G protein-coupled receptors and the elevation of intracellular [Ca(2+)], which leads to the reorganization of the cytoskeleton associated with the septate junction (SJ). The reorganization may affect the septate junctional proteins that control the barrier and permselectivity properties of the paracellular pathway. The proteins involved in the embryonic formation of the SJ and in epithelial polarization are largely known for ectodermal epithelia, but the proteins that form and mediate the dynamic functions of the SJ in Malpighian tubules remain to be determined.

Source: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06527.x

Author: Klaus W. Beyenbach

Institution: Cornell University

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Award: Septate junctional proteins: Proteomic identification and role in diuresis