Wolbachia modulation of lipid metabolism in Aedes albopictus mosquito cells

Certain strains of the intracellular endosymbiont Wolbachia can strongly inhibit or block the transmission of viruses such as dengue by Aedes mosquitoes, and the mechanisms responsible are still not well understood. Direct infusion and liquid chromatography FT-ICR mass spectrometry based lipidomicse DIMS and LCMS analyses were conducted using Aedes albopictus Aa23 cells that were infected with the wMel and wMelPop strains of Wolbachia compared to uninfected cells. Substantial shifts in the cellular lipid profile were apparent in the presence of Wolbachia. Most significantly, sphingolipids were depleted across all classes, and some reduction in diacylglyerol fatty acids and phosphatidylcholines was also observed. These lipid classes have previously been shown to be selectively enriched in DENV-infected mosquito cells, suggesting that Wolbachia may produce a cellular lipid environment that is antagonistic to viral replication. The data improve understanding of the intracellular interactions between Wolbachia and mosquitoes.

胞内共生菌沃尔巴克氏体（Wolbachia）的部分菌株可强效抑制乃至阻断伊蚊传播登革病毒等病毒，但其具体作用机制迄今尚未完全明晰。本研究以感染沃尔巴克氏体wMel株与wMelPop株的白纹伊蚊Aa23细胞为研究对象，并以未感染的同源细胞作为对照，开展了基于直接注入质谱（DIMS）与液相色谱-傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱（LC-FTICR-MS）的脂质组学分析。结果显示，沃尔巴克氏体感染可引发细胞脂质谱出现显著变化：其中最为突出的改变为各类鞘脂均发生明显耗竭，同时二酰甘油类脂肪酸与磷脂酰胆碱的含量也出现了一定程度的降低。既往研究已证实，上述脂质类别在登革病毒（Dengue Virus，DENV）感染的蚊细胞中会被选择性富集，这提示沃尔巴克氏体可能通过构建不利于病毒复制的细胞脂质微环境来发挥抗病毒作用。本数据集可为深化沃尔巴克氏体与伊蚊之间胞内相互作用的认知提供有力支撑。