PROBING ANOPHELES STEPHENSI MOSQUITO MIDGUT WITH PROTECTED TRIAZABUTADIENES

Despite its discovery centuries ago, malaria continues to be a significant public health threat. Though it has been around for many years, effective methods to control its vector remains a challenge. Of the multiple Anopheles species, here, the Anopheles stephensi mosquito larval midgut is studied to discover potential drug targets. The midgut contains a large number of proteases and their high enzymatic activity contributes to significant degradation of the proteins before they can be analyzed. This project highlights the preparation and identification of dissection and protein purification techniques to minimize protein degradation within the larval midguts. Additional workup of the larval midguts with a known small chemical probe, protected triazabutadienes, can provide additional details about how these proteins can potentially be utilized as drug targets. Protected triazabutadienes are triggered once they reach the high pH environment within the midgut of the larvae to release benzene diazonium ions. These ions serve as a labeling mechanism for tyrosine and histidine residues on the surface of protiens. The labeled proteins can then be further studied