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A neurotoxin that specifically targets Anopheles mosquitoes

Contreras, Estefania ; Masuyer, Geoffrey ; Qureshi, Nadia ; Chawla, Swati ; Dhillon, Harpal S ; Lee, Han Lim ; Chen, Jianwu ; Stenmark, Pål LU orcid and Gill, Sarjeet S (2019) In Nature Communications 10(1). p.2869-2869
Abstract

Clostridial neurotoxins, including tetanus and botulinum neurotoxins, generally target vertebrates. We show here that this family of toxins has a much broader host spectrum, by identifying PMP1, a clostridial-like neurotoxin that selectively targets anopheline mosquitoes. Isolation of PMP1 from Paraclostridium bifermentans strains collected in anopheline endemic areas on two continents indicates it is widely distributed. The toxin likely evolved from an ancestral form that targets the nervous system of similar organisms, using a common mechanism that disrupts SNARE-mediated exocytosis. It cleaves the mosquito syntaxin and employs a unique receptor recognition strategy. Our research has an important impact on the study of the evolution... (More)

Clostridial neurotoxins, including tetanus and botulinum neurotoxins, generally target vertebrates. We show here that this family of toxins has a much broader host spectrum, by identifying PMP1, a clostridial-like neurotoxin that selectively targets anopheline mosquitoes. Isolation of PMP1 from Paraclostridium bifermentans strains collected in anopheline endemic areas on two continents indicates it is widely distributed. The toxin likely evolved from an ancestral form that targets the nervous system of similar organisms, using a common mechanism that disrupts SNARE-mediated exocytosis. It cleaves the mosquito syntaxin and employs a unique receptor recognition strategy. Our research has an important impact on the study of the evolution of clostridial neurotoxins and provides the basis for the use of P. bifermentans strains and PMP1 as innovative, environmentally friendly approaches to reduce malaria through anopheline control.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature Communications
volume
10
issue
1
pages
2869 - 2869
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:31253776
  • scopus:85068173930
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-019-10732-w
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
77c9a783-779d-423b-abfb-d05e1977373e
date added to LUP
2019-07-03 09:43:30
date last changed
2024-04-30 16:03:38
@article{77c9a783-779d-423b-abfb-d05e1977373e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Clostridial neurotoxins, including tetanus and botulinum neurotoxins, generally target vertebrates. We show here that this family of toxins has a much broader host spectrum, by identifying PMP1, a clostridial-like neurotoxin that selectively targets anopheline mosquitoes. Isolation of PMP1 from Paraclostridium bifermentans strains collected in anopheline endemic areas on two continents indicates it is widely distributed. The toxin likely evolved from an ancestral form that targets the nervous system of similar organisms, using a common mechanism that disrupts SNARE-mediated exocytosis. It cleaves the mosquito syntaxin and employs a unique receptor recognition strategy. Our research has an important impact on the study of the evolution of clostridial neurotoxins and provides the basis for the use of P. bifermentans strains and PMP1 as innovative, environmentally friendly approaches to reduce malaria through anopheline control.</p>}},
  author       = {{Contreras, Estefania and Masuyer, Geoffrey and Qureshi, Nadia and Chawla, Swati and Dhillon, Harpal S and Lee, Han Lim and Chen, Jianwu and Stenmark, Pål and Gill, Sarjeet S}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{2869--2869}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{A neurotoxin that specifically targets Anopheles mosquitoes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10732-w}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-019-10732-w}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}