The mitogen-activated protein kinome from Anopheles gambiae: identification, phylogeny and functional characterization of the ERK, JNK and p38 MAP kinases.

Background: Anopheles gambiae is the primary mosquito vector of human malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, three innate immune signaling pathways, including the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB-dependent Toll and immune deficient (IMD) pathways and the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (Jak-STAT) pathway, have been extensively characterized in An. gambiae.

Identification of three single nucleotide polymorphisms in Anopheles gambiae immune signaling genes that are associated with natural Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Background: Laboratory studies have demonstrated that a variety of immune signaling pathways regulate malaria parasite infection in Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector species in Africa.

Methods: To begin to understand the importance of these associations under natural conditions, an association mapping approach was adopted to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in selected immune signaling genes in A. gambiae collected in Mali were associated with the phenotype of Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Metabolic pathways in Anopheles stephensi mitochondria.

No studies have been performed on the mitochondria of malaria vector mosquitoes. This information would be valuable in understanding mosquito aging and detoxification of insecticides, two parameters that have a significant impact on malaria parasite transmission in endemic regions. In the present study, we report the analyses of respiration and oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria of cultured cells [ASE (Anopheles stephensi Mos.

Subject-specific biomechanical simulation of brain indentation using a meshless method.

We develop a meshless method for simulating soft organ deformation. The method is motivated by simple, automatic model creation for real-time simulation. Our method is meshless in the sense that deformation is calculated at nodes that are not part of an element mesh.

A new robust diagnostic polymerase chain reaction for determining the mating status of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

The principal malaria vector in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, contains two pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. The Y chromosome is only associated with males and other Y chromosome-specific DNA sequences, which are transferred to women during mating. A reliable tool to determine the mating status of dried wild An.