Niemann-Pick Type C2 Proteins in Aedes aegypti : Molecular Modelling and Prediction of Their Structure-Function Relationships

is a major vector that transmits arboviruses through the saliva injected into the host. Salivary proteins help in uninterrupted blood intake and enhance the transmission of pathogens. We studied Niemann-Pick Type C2 (NPC2) proteins, a superfamily of saliva proteins that play an important role in arb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2024-02, Vol.25 (3), p.1684
Main Authors: Thambi, Prathigna Jaishankar, Modahl, Cassandra M, Kini, R Manjunatha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Arthropods
Brain diseases
Cholesterol
Chromosomes
Exocrine glands
Fatty acids
Genes
Genetic disorders
Genomes
Lipids
Metabolic disorders
Mosquitoes
Pathogens
Physiology
Proteins
Vertebrates
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Summary:is a major vector that transmits arboviruses through the saliva injected into the host. Salivary proteins help in uninterrupted blood intake and enhance the transmission of pathogens. We studied Niemann-Pick Type C2 (NPC2) proteins, a superfamily of saliva proteins that play an important role in arbovirus infections. In vertebrates, a single conserved gene encodes for the NPC2 protein that functions in cholesterol trafficking. Arthropods, in contrast, have several genes that encode divergent NPC2 proteins. We compared the sequences of 20 NPC2 proteins to the cholesterol-binding residues of human and bovine, and fatty-acid-binding residues of ant NPC2 protein. We identified four mosquito NPC2 proteins as potential sterol-binding proteins. Two of these proteins (AAEL006854 and/or AAEL020314) may play a key role in ecdysteroid biosynthesis and moulting. We also identified one mosquito NPC2 protein as a potential fatty-acid-binding protein. Through molecular modelling, we predicted the structures of the potential sterol- and fatty-acid-binding proteins and compared them to the reference proteins.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms25031684