Mosquito natriuretic peptide identified as a calcitonin-like diuretic hormone in Anopheles gambiae (Giles).

Mosquito natriuretic peptide (MNP), an uncharacterised peptide from the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, acts via cyclic AMP to stimulate secretion of Na+-rich urine by opening a Na+ conductance in the basolateral membrane of Malpighian tubule principal cells. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)-related peptides and calcitonin (CT)-like diuretic peptides use cyclic AMP as a second messenger and were therefore considered likely candidates for MNP. BLAST searches of the genome of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, gave sequences for the CRF-related peptide Anoga-DH44 and the CT-like peptide Anoga-DH31, which were synthesised and tested for effects on Malpighian tubules from An.

Neuropeptide control of fluid balance in insects.

This minireview considers various aspects of the control of hydromineral balance in insects with particular reference to the control of diuresis and natriuresis in mosquitoes, with new information on the diuretic peptides of Anopheles gambiae.