How does it
detect our skin? What are the odors from skin that it detects? And can
we block the mosquito skin odor sensors and reduce attractiveness?
Recent research done by scientists at the University of California, Riverside can now help address these questions. They report on Dec. 5 in the journal Cell that the very receptors in the mosquito's maxillary palp that detect carbon dioxide are ones that detect skin odors as well, thus explaining why mosquitoes are attracted to skin odor -- smelly socks, worn clothes, bedding -- even in the absence of CO2.
"It was a real surprise when we found that the mosquito's CO2 receptor neuron, designated cpA, is an extremely sensitive detector of several skin odorants as well, and is, in fact, far more sensitive to some of these odor molecules as compared to CO2," said Anandasankar Ray, an associate professor in the Department of Entomology and the project's principal investigator. "For many years we had primarily focused on the complex antennae of mosquitoes for our search for human-skin odor receptors, and ignored the simpler maxillary palp organs."
Until now, which mosquito olfactory neurons were required for attraction to skin odor remained a mystery. The new finding -- that the CO2-sensitive olfactory neuron is also a sensitive detector of human skin -- is critical not only for understanding the basis of the mosquito's host attraction and host preference, but also because it identifies this dual receptor of CO2 and skin-odorants as a key target that could be useful to disrupt host-seeking behavior and thus aid in the control of disease transmission.
Recent research done by scientists at the University of California, Riverside can now help address these questions. They report on Dec. 5 in the journal Cell that the very receptors in the mosquito's maxillary palp that detect carbon dioxide are ones that detect skin odors as well, thus explaining why mosquitoes are attracted to skin odor -- smelly socks, worn clothes, bedding -- even in the absence of CO2.
"It was a real surprise when we found that the mosquito's CO2 receptor neuron, designated cpA, is an extremely sensitive detector of several skin odorants as well, and is, in fact, far more sensitive to some of these odor molecules as compared to CO2," said Anandasankar Ray, an associate professor in the Department of Entomology and the project's principal investigator. "For many years we had primarily focused on the complex antennae of mosquitoes for our search for human-skin odor receptors, and ignored the simpler maxillary palp organs."
Until now, which mosquito olfactory neurons were required for attraction to skin odor remained a mystery. The new finding -- that the CO2-sensitive olfactory neuron is also a sensitive detector of human skin -- is critical not only for understanding the basis of the mosquito's host attraction and host preference, but also because it identifies this dual receptor of CO2 and skin-odorants as a key target that could be useful to disrupt host-seeking behavior and thus aid in the control of disease transmission.
No comments:
Post a Comment