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:2012
卷号:109
期号:46
页码:18915-18920
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1205231109
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Although West Nile virus (WNV) and other arthropod-borne viruses are a major public health problem, the mechanisms of antiviral immunity in mosquitoes are poorly understood. Dicer-2, responsible for the RNAi-mediated response through the C-terminal RNase-III domain, also contains an N-terminal DExD/H-box helicase domain similar to mammalian RIG-I/MDA5 which, in Drosophila, was found to be required for activation of an antiviral gene, Vago. Here we show that the Culex orthologue of Vago (CxVago) is up-regulated in response to WNV infection in a Dicer-2-dependent manner. Further, our data show that CxVago is a secreted peptide that restricts WNV infection by activation of the Jak-STAT pathway. Thus, Vago appears to function as an IFN-like antiviral cytokine in mosquitoes.