Trypsin, the Major Proteolytic Enzyme for Blood Digestion in the Mosquito Midgut
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA
- 2Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA
- ↵3Correspondence: mgulianuss{at}unr.edu
Abstract
When a female mosquito takes a blood meal, proteolytic activity surges in the midgut. Trypsin-like serine proteases are the major endoproteolytic enzyme induced by feeding in mosquitoes. The mosquito midgut lacks trypsin activity before the blood meal, but in most anautogenous mosquitoes, trypsin activity increases continuously up to 30 h after feeding and subsequently returns to baseline levels by 60 h. Trypsin activity in mosquitoes is restricted entirely to the posterior midgut lumen, where blood is stored and digested. Trypsin enzyme activity can be quantitatively measured using the artificial Nα-benzoyl-DL-arginine 4-nitroanilide hydrochloride substrate, a method described in our associated protocol.
Footnotes
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From the Mosquitoes collection, edited by Laura B. Duvall and Benjamin J. Matthews.
