Lectin binding to extracellularly melanized microfilariae of Brugia malayi from the hemocoel of Anopheles quadrimaculatus.

Binding patterns of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)- and gold-conjugated lectins to extracellularly melanized sheathed and exsheathed microfilariae of subperiodic Brugia malayi, isolated from and in situ in the abdominal hemocoel of Anopheles quadrimaculatus 72-hr postinfection, were examined. Five FITC-conjugated lectins [Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA), Arachis hypogaea (peanut agglutinin-PNA), Triticum vulgaris (wheat germ agglutinin-WGA), Lens culinaris (lentil-LCH), and Concanavalin A (Con A)] with specificities for different carbohydrate moieties were tested for binding to isolated melanized microfilariae and observed with transmitted light and fluorescence microscopy. All five FITC-lectins bound strongly to the acellular material accompanying the melanin deposits on the surface of isolated melanized microfilariae. Significant inhibition of FITC-lectin binding occurred when lectins were preincubated with their complementary carbohydrates before testing. H. pomatia agglutinin binding was totally inhibited by N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine. Other lectins were partially inhibited, such as PNA by galactose and lactose; WGA by N-acetylneuraminic acid; LCH by N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, mannose, glucose, and methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside; and Con A by mannose and methyl alpha-D-mannopyranoside. Three gold-conjugated lectins (HPA, PNA, and Con A), examined by using transmission electron microscopy, bound to the outer surface of the acellular material associated with the melanin deposits on isolated melanized microfilarial sheaths and melanized microfilariae and to the remnants of lysed hemocytes found in the proximity of the melanized deposits. Con A in the presence of gold-labeled horseradish peroxidase, examined by using transmission electron microscopy, showed random binding within the melanized capsule formed around the microfilarial sheath in situ. These results indicate that the acellular material accompanying melanin deposits on melanized microfilarial sheaths and sheathed and exsheathed microfilariae contain several glycoconjugates with exposed carbohydrate moieties and are possibly glycoproteins. These glycoproteins could be the by-products of the activation of the prophenoloxidase by the microfilariae.

Intracellular development of subperiodic Brugia malayi influenced by mosquito thoracic muscle cells.

The in vitro development of 1-day-old intracellularly lodged larvae of Brugia malayi cultured in infected excised thoraces of selected susceptible and refractory strains of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles quadrimaculatus was compared with larvae reared in vivo. In susceptible mosquitoes, both in vitro and in vivo, larvae developed normally and abnormally. In refractory mosquitoes this pattern of both normal and abnormal development was also observed, except that comparatively fewer larvae developed to the infective third-stage larvae (L3) in vitro than in vivo and that more first-stage larvae (L1) were intracellularly melanized in vivo than in vitro. These studies indicate that factors in the thoracic muscle cells of the mosquito greatly affect the development of B. malayi microfilariae to L3. Intracellular melanization of L1 in An. quadrimaculatus, previously demonstrated in vivo, rarely occurred in vitro. These studies therefore suggest that refractoriness and melanization of B. malayi larvae in the thoraces of An. quadrimaculatus are controlled by two different and separate mechanisms.

Characterization of the intracellular melanization response in Anopheles quadrimaculatus against subperiodic Brugia malayi larvae.

Intracellular melanization, a defense or an immune response in the thoracic muscle cells, was investigated in a refractory strain of Anopheles quadrimaculatus infected with larvae of Brugia malayi. In mosquitoes fed on B. malayi-infected jirds, intracellular melanization against first-stage larvae (L1) was better expressed when fewer than 40 microfilariae reached the thoracic muscle cells than when more than 40 microfilariae reached the thoracic muscle cells. This result suggests that when large numbers of microfilariae invade the thoracic muscle cells, the immune response of the mosquito may become overloaded. Intracellular melanization response against L1 in the thoracic muscle cells also showed a significant decrease in older females (14-16-day-old) as compared to the younger ones (4-9-day-old). A comparison is made between intracellular and extracellular responses of mosquitoes to filarial larvae. It is significant that in both cases high rate of infection can reduce both the number and percentage of larvae melanized.