Voltage-gated ion channels are expressed in the Malpighian tubules and anal papillae of Yellow Fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and may regulate ion transport during salt and water imbalance.

Many vectors of infectious disease include several species Aedes mosquitoes. Life cycle of Aedes aegypti, the Yellow Fever mosquito, consists of a terrestrial adult and aquatic larval life stages. Developing in coastal waters can expose larvae to fluctuating salinity causing salt and water imbalance, which is addressed by two prime osmoregulatory organs - Malpighian tubules (MTs) and anal papillae (AP). Voltage-gated ion channels (VGICs) have recently been implicated in the regulation of ion transport in the osmoregulatory epithelia of insects. In the current study, we: (i) generated MTs transcriptomes of freshwater-acclimated and brackish water-exposed larvae of Ae. aegypti, (ii) detected expression of several voltage-gated Ca2+, K+, Na+ and non-ion-selective ion channels in the MTs and AP using transcriptomics, PCR, and gel electrophoresis, (iii) demonstrated that mRNA abundance of many altered significantly following brackish water exposure, and (iv) using custom-made antibodies, we immunolocalized CaV1, NALCN, TRP/Painless, KCNH8 in the MTs and AP of larvae. We found CaV1 to be expressed in the apical membrane of MTs of both larvae and adults, and its inhibition to alter membrane potentials of this osmoregulatory epithelium. Our data demonstrate that multiple VGICs are expressed in osmoregulatory epithelia of Ae. aegypti and may play an important role in the autonomous regulation of ion transport.