# Molecular Mechanisms of Amino Acid Transport in Mosquitoes

> **NIH NIH SC1** · NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY LAS CRUCES · 2021 · $365,680

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Novel public health insecticides with new modes of action are urgently needed to protect the health
of human populations in many countries worldwide. This project focuses on the family of cationic
amino acid transporters (SLC7) of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, the principal vector of
dengue fever, chikungunya, and Zika virus. The mode of action and substrate specificity of five
SLC7s will be studied, in order to understand how this class of transporters functions. We will
unravel the cellular nutrient signaling cascade downstream of these transceptors (transporters with
receptor function) and study how the activity of them is regulated in key tissues/organs for mosquito
reproduction.
The proposed work will prove significant for human health through the gain of knowledge on amino
acid transport and signaling in mosquitoes. SLC7 inhibitors have the potential to give rise to the
next generation of public health insecticides. In addition, this study will significantly increase our
basic knowledge of the functional mechanisms of SLC7-type cationic amino acid transporters in
insects with implications for understanding essential amino acid transporters in humans and other
model systems. Our results will broaden our knowledge of nutrient signaling and the regulation of
amino acid transport in a species that is an important vector of devastating human diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10169461
- **Project number:** 5SC1GM125584-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY LAS CRUCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Immo Alex Hansen
- **Activity code:** SC1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $365,680
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10169461

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10169461, Molecular Mechanisms of Amino Acid Transport in Mosquitoes (5SC1GM125584-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10169461. Licensed CC0.

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