TY - JOUR TI - Hemocyte differentiation to the megacyte lineage enhances mosquito immunity against Plasmodium AU - Barletta, Ana Beatriz F AU - Saha, Banhisikha AU - Trisnadi, Nathanie AU - Talyuli, Octavio AC AU - Raddi, Gianmarco AU - Barillas-Mury, Carolina A2 - Lemaitre, Bruno A2 - Soldati-Favre, Dominique A2 - Lemaitre, Bruno VL - 11 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/09/02 SP - e81116 C1 - eLife 2022;11:e81116 DO - 10.7554/eLife.81116 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81116 AB - Activation of Toll signaling in Anopheles gambiae by silencing Cactus, a suppressor of this pathway, enhances local release of hemocyte-derived microvesicles (HdMv), promoting activation of the mosquito complement-like system, which eliminates Plasmodium ookinetes. We uncovered the mechanism of this immune enhancement. Cactus silencing triggers a Rel1-mediated differentiation of granulocytes to the megacyte lineage, a new subpopulation of giant cells, resulting in a dramatic increase in the proportion of circulating megacytes. Megacytes are very plastic cells that are massively recruited to the basal midgut surface in response to Plasmodium infection. We show that Toll signaling modulates hemocyte differentiation and that megacyte recruitment to the midgut greatly enhances mosquito immunity against Plasmodium. KW - Anopheles gambiae KW - mosquito KW - megacyte KW - Toll pathway KW - antiplasmodial immunity KW - hemocytes JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -