ANALYSIS OF HAEMOLYMPH PROTEINS IN THE BRUGIA MALAYI-SUSCEPTIBLE MOSQUITO, AEDES TOGOI, USING SDS-PAGE AND TWO-DIMENSIONAL GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

Haemolymph is the medium that transports nutrients, hormones and immune effector molecules to provide themosquitoes with immune response against invading filarial worms. In this study, haemolymph protein profiles of adult femaleAedes togoi, before and after intrathoracic inoculation of Brugia malayi microfilariae or injection with saline solution, wereanalyzed. SDS-PAGE revealed that haemolymph protein profiles of both mosquitoes injected and inoculated with salinesolution and microfilariae, respectively, were similar. At least 5 protein bands were induced after the injection. Twodimensionalelectrophoresis analysis showed that approximately 150 protein spots were resolved in the haemolymph beforeand after saline injection. The molecular mass of these spots varied from 10-80 kDa with a pI of 3.1-10. Through comparisonand analysis, 30 protein spots were expressed differentially during the immune challenge. Seven and seventeen spots wereup-regulated and down-regulated proteins, respectively. Two spots were repressed and four appeared post saline injection.Information of Ae. togoi haemolymph proteins obtained in this study was is an initial step for further identification ofdifferentially expressed proteins that might help in understanding immune response in the mosquito-parasite system