期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2022
卷号：119
期号：11
DOI：10.1073/pnas.2118871119
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Significance
Juvenile hormone (JH), a sesquiterpenoid, regulates many aspects of insect development, including maintenance of the larval stage by preventing metamorphosis. In contrast, ecdysteroids promote metamorphosis by inducing the
E93 transcription factor, which triggers apoptosis of larval cells and remodeling of the larval midgut. We discovered that JH suppresses precocious larval midgut-remodeling by inducing an epigenetic modifier, histone deacetylase 3 (
HDAC3). JH-induced
HDAC3 deacetylates the histone H4 localized at the promoters of proapoptotic genes, resulting in the suppression of these genes. This eventually prevents programmed cell death of midgut cells and midgut-remodeling during larval stages. These studies identified a previously unknown mechanism of JH action in blocking premature remodeling of the midgut during larval feeding stages.
The yellow fever mosquito,
Aedes aegypti, is distributed worldwide and transmits viruses that cause many diseases, including dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and zika. Epigenetic modifications such as acetylation of histones regulated by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) control insect development. We recently reported that the Creb-binding protein (a HAT) regulates the metamorphosis of
A. aegypti. However, the function of HDACs in
A. aegypti is not known. In this study, we identified 10 genes coding for HDACs in
A. aegypti and determined their function in larval development using RNA interference (RNAi). Knockdown of each HDAC has a distinct effect on the growth, development, and metamorphosis of
A. aegypti. Knockdown of HDAC3 severely affected the larval survival, indicating its indispensable role in larval development. HDAC3 is highly expressed during the larval stages, and its messenger RNA (mRNA) levels correlate with the juvenile hormone (JH) titers. JH induces the expression of
HDAC3 through its receptor, methoprene-tolerant (Met). Knockdown of
HDAC3 resulted in increased expression of proapoptotic genes involved in apoptosis of larval midgut cells. This consequently decreased midgut size and led to larval death. HDAC3 deacetylates histone H4 localized at the promoters of proapoptotic genes and suppresses their expression. In addition, a corepressor, SMRTER, is required for HDAC3-mediated suppression of proapoptotic genes. Interestingly, ecdysone attenuates HDAC3-mediated repression of proapoptotic genes. These data demonstrate that JH-induced HDAC3 is a key player in JH suppression of precocious larval cell death and metamorphosis in
A. aegypti.
