Article
“Urate and NOX5 Control Blood Digestion in the Hematophagous Insect Rhodnius prolixus”
Registro en:
GANDARA, Ana Caroline P. et al. “Urate and NOX5 Control Blood Digestion in the Hematophagous Insect Rhodnius prolixus”. Front. Physiol., v. 12, Article 633093, 11p, Feb. 2021.
1664-1078
10.3389/fphys.2021.633093
Autor
Gandara, Ana Caroline P.
Dias, Felipe A.
Lemos, Paula C. de
Stiebler, Renata
Bombaça, Ana Cristina S.
Menna-Barreto, Rubem
Oliveira, Pedro L.
Resumen
Low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are now recognized as essential players
in cell signaling. Here, we studied the role of two conserved enzymes involved
in redox regulation that play a critical role in the control of ROS in the digestive
physiology of a blood-sucking insect, the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus. RNAi-mediated
silencing of RpNOX5 and RpXDH induced early mortality in adult females after a blood
meal. Recently, a role for RpNOX5 in gut motility was reported, and here, we show
that midgut peristalsis is also under the control of RpXDH. Together with impaired
peristalsis, silencing either genes impaired egg production and hemoglobin digestion,
and decreased hemolymph urate titers. Ultrastructurally, the silencing of RpNOX5 or
RpXDH affected midgut cells, changing the cells of blood-fed insects to a phenotype
resembling the cells of unfed insects, suggesting that these genes work together
in the control of blood digestion. Injection of either allopurinol (an XDH inhibitor) or
uricase recapitulated the gene silencing effects, suggesting that urate itself is involved
in the control of blood digestion. The silencing of each of these genes influenced the
expression of the other gene in a complex way both in the unfed state and after a blood
meal, revealing signaling crosstalk between them that influences redox metabolism and
nitrogen excretion and plays a central role in the control of digestive physiology.