Identification of xanthurenic acid as the putative inducer of malaria development in the mosquito

O. Billker, V. Lindo, M. Panico, A. E. Etienne, T. Paxton, A. Dell, M. Rogers, R. E. Sinden and H. R. Morris
Additional contact information
O. Billker: Imperial College
V. Lindo: Imperial College
M. Panico: Imperial College
A. E. Etienne: Imperial College
T. Paxton: Imperial College
A. Dell: Imperial College
M. Rogers: M-Scan Inc.
R. E. Sinden: Imperial College
H. R. Morris: Imperial College

Nature, 1998, vol. 392, issue 6673, 289-292

Abstract: Abstract Malaria is transmitted from vertebrate host to mosquito vector by mature sexual blood-living stages called gametocytes1,2. Within seconds of ingestion into the mosquito bloodmeal, gametocytes undergo gametogenesis. Induction requires the simultaneous exposure to at least two stimuli in vitro: a drop in bloodmeal temperature to 5 °C below that of the vertebrate host1,2,3, and a rise in pH from 7.4 to 8.0–8.2 (refs 1, 4). In vivo the mosquito bloodmeal has a pH of between 7.5 and 7.6 (refs 5, 6). It is thought that in vivo the second inducer is an unknown mosquito-derived gametocyte-activating factor5,7,8. Here we show that this factor is xanthurenic acid. We also show that low concentrations of xanthurenic acid can act together with pH to induce gametogenesis in vitro. Structurally related compounds are at least ninefold less effective at inducing gametogenesis in vitro. In Drosophila mutants with lesions in the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism (of which xanthurenic acid is a side product), no alternative active compound was detected in crude insect homogenates. These data could form the basis of the rational development of new methods of interrupting the transmission of malaria using drugs or new refractory mosquito genotypes to block parasite gametogenesis.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/32667

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