(2nd Place) Spatial and temporal dynamics of Anopheline ABC transporter responses to LLINs

Mosquitoes affect millions of people worldwide because of their ability to transmit pathogens and parasites leading to disease. There are two general approaches to reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases including personal protective measures and area-wide chemical interventions. The mosquito central nervous system is a proven target site for high efficacy insecticides. However, widespread resistance and inefficient target-site delivery limits the use of conventional insecticides to reduce mosquito populations and community disease transmission. Thus, insecticide resistance and target-site delivery are serious public health challenges that warrant the development of improved chemical interventions for mosquitoes. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are integral membrane proteins at the mosquito blood-brain barrier interface that act as molecular “vacuum cleaners” to traffic out insecticides and reduce the intracellular delivery of these chemistries to their intended target sites. The data presented here will provide evidence of a blood-brain barrier obstacle for the intracellular delivery of insecticides to the mosquito central nervous system. A series of ABC modulators will be reported to enhance the efficacy of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) to anopheline mosquitoes. Additionally, the spatial and temporal gene expression of ABC transporters will be compared across anopheline mosquitoes exposed to LLINs. These data will be discussed as a prerequisite approach to identify conventional insecticides as substrates for ABC transporters and to screen drug libraries for ABC transporter inhibitors that can serve as alternative chemical interventions for anopheline mosquitoes.