CIRCADIAN PROTEOME OF THE MOSQUITO Aedes aegypti (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE), THE DENGUE AND YELLOW FEVER VECTOR

*Corresponding author e-mail: rafaelav@ioc.fiocruz.br Introduction: Circadian rhythms have been described in almost all organisms, but very little is known about their molecular control in hematophagous insect vectors. As the circadian clock drives activity and feeding behavior in these vectors, understanding the molecular machinery of the clock may add important information to the dynamics of vector-borne disease transmission. We are currently studying the circadian proteome of Aedes aegypti , vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses, in order to identify the proteins that are differentially expressed in a circadian pattern. Methods: We analyzed the mosquito proteome through the twodimensional electrophoresis (2D-E) gel approach. In the first dimension, we used a 4-7 pI interval to focalize the proteins from female heads collected every four hours in constant dark. In the second dimension, the focused proteins were resolved in a 12% SDS-PAGE. The resulting 24 gels (four replicates per time-point) were analyzed using Image Master Platinum 5.0 software. Results: A preliminary analysis revealed that from 315 detected spots approximately 11% (35 spots) displayed a pattern that suggests circadian variation and, therefore, were identified by MALDI- TOF-TOF mass spectrometry. It is of interest to note that the mRNA from ca . 30% of these identified proteins had been previously identified in Drosophila circadian microarray assays. After identification, proteins were assembled according to their functions. Conclusion: Ongoing studies are validating these results. We hope that the analysis of the circadian proteome of Aedes aegypti will contribute to our understanding of the coordination of some clock controlled output processes in this disease vector. Publication History Article published online: 16 June 2026 © 2009. Brazilian Sleep Academy. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda. Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil