# Development of genetic tools for the study of mosquito hemocytes

> **NIH NIH R21** · IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $229,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Mosquitoes have developed a robust innate immune system comprised of cellular and humoral immune
responses that together shape mosquito vector competence, which as a result has garnered significant interest
as potential targets to make mosquitoes refractory to disease transmission. Immune cells, known as hemocytes,
are central to mosquito cellular and humoral immune responses that include phagocytosis, the establishment of
immune memory, and the recognition and killing of malaria parasites. Yet, despite their importance, studies of
mosquito hemocytes have been limited by a lack of genetic resources that have limited their characterization to
morphological properties of size and shape. With a long-term goal to characterize mosquito immune cell
populations and their contributions to innate immunity, the overall objective of this application is to develop
genetic tools and resources to improve our understanding of mosquito immune cell function. Recent single-cell
studies have characterized mosquito immune cell populations with new and increased resolution, providing the
identification of candidate universal or subtype-specific marker genes that define immune cell sub-populations.
Serving as the foundation and rationale of this proposal, regulatory regions of these candidate hemocyte
marker genes will be used to generate transgenic Anopheles mosquitoes that drive fluorescent markers (Aim 1)
or transcriptional activators (Aim 2) in distinct immune cell populations. Together, our proposed experiments will
provide valuable new genetic resources for the mosquito hemocyte community that will significantly advance our
understanding of Anopheles immune cell biology, while serving as the foundation for future studies to better
define the contributions of hemocytes to malaria parasite killing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10353752
- **Project number:** 1R21AI166857-01
- **Recipient organization:** IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan C. Smith
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $229,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-24 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10353752

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10353752, Development of genetic tools for the study of mosquito hemocytes (1R21AI166857-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10353752. Licensed CC0.

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