Hormone-dependent activation and repression of microRNAs by the ecdysone receptor in the dengue vector mosquito <i>Aedes aegypti</i>
Ya‐Zhou He, Emre Aksoy, Yike Ding, Alexander S. Raikhel
Abstract
Significance Mosquitoes transmit numerous devastating human diseases. MicroRNAs play important roles in mosquito reproduction, but how their expression is controlled remains poorly understood. We demonstrate that ecdysone receptor (EcR) dynamically regulates the expression of clustered miR-275 and miR-305 to coordinate their activity with the demands of the female Aedes aegypti reproduction. EcR represses their expression at the low 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) level before blood feeding by interacting with the corepressor SMRTER, the insect analog of the vertebrate nuclear receptor corepressors SMRT and N-CoR. In contrast, it activates their expression at the high 20E level after a blood meal via replacement of SMRTER with the coactivator Taiman. Our study gives valuable clues for miRNA utilization to control mosquito populations and, thus, mosquito-borne diseases.