Joel Vega-Rodriguez

@jvr-lab.bsky.social

421 Followers 807 Following

Malaria and mosquito scientist at the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, NIAID, NIH. 🇵🇷🏳️‍🌈🦟🔬🧑🏽‍🔬🏐🏋🏽

Mosquito responses to modulate the host's blood humoral and cellular responses in the mosquito midgut. After blood ingestion, the human hemostatic and immune responses in the blood bolus remain active. Mosquitoes employ both early and late strategies to counter these host responses and protect the midgut epithelium: 1. Early responses – Mosquito ingests saliva containing bioactive proteins, such as apyrase and AAPP, that inhibit platelet aggregation, NETosis, and other host hemostatic and immune activities. 2. Late responses - The formation of the peritrophic matrix shields the midgut epithelium from microbes, free heme, and other toxic blood components. Additionally, the ingested blood stimulates gene expression, activating pathways for nutrient uptake, metabolic adaptation, and immune defense.