Purine nucleoside phosphorylase mediates midgut physiological functions in Aedes aegypti by orchestrating uric acid biosynthesis and oxidative stress homeostasis.

Abstract

Insects excrete nitrogenous waste primarily through the synthesis of uric acid, with purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP; AAEL002269) serving as a critical enzyme in this metabolic pathway. Downregulation of PNP has been shown to significantly disrupt blood digestion, ovarian development, and adult longevity in mosquitoes following a blood meal. However, the precise molecular mechanisms underlying these phenotypic consequences remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed clustered regularly interspaced small palindromic repeats (CRISPR) / CRISPR-associated nuclease 9-mediated gene editing to knockout the PNP gene in Aedes aegypti, thereby providing further evidence for the essential biological roles of PNP. Comprehensive transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed 5 238 differentially expressed transcripts and 145 differentially expressed proteins in PNP-deficient mosquitoes. These molecular changes were associated with key biological processes, including oxidative stress, energy metabolism, and xenobiotic detoxification. Notably, the downregulation of uric acid synthesis pathway genes, 5'-nucleotidase II (NT2; AAEL024497), and xanthine dehydrogenase 1 (XDH1; AAEL002683), recapitulated the phenotypic defects observed in PNP-deficient mosquitoes. Further mechanistic investigations demonstrated that PNP depletion led to mitochondrial dysfunction in midgut cells, reduced expression of digestive enzymes, impaired uric acid synthesis, elevated ammonia accumulation, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Our results indicate that the disruption of uric acid synthesis was closely linked to ROS overproduction. PNP maintains physiological homeostasis in mosquitoes by coordinately regulating uric acid synthesis and ROS levels. This study not only advances our understanding of antioxidant defense mechanisms and nitrogen metabolism in mosquitoes but also identifies potential molecular targets for the development of novel strategies to control mosquito-borne diseases.