Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels

Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over seve...

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Published in:Cell Vol. 185; no. 22; p. 4099
Main Authors: De Obaldia, Maria Elena, Morita, Takeshi, Dedmon, Laura C, Boehmler, Daniel J, Jiang, Caroline S, Zeledon, Emely V, Cross, Justin R, Vosshall, Leslie B
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 27.10.2022
Subjects:
Aedes
Animals
Anopheles
Carboxylic Acids - pharmacology
Humans
Insect Repellents - analysis
Insect Repellents - pharmacology
Odorants - analysis
metabolomics
skin
olfaction
Aedes aegypti
sebum
behavior
chemosensory receptors
mosquito
ISSN:1097-4172, 1097-4172
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Abstract Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in "mosquito-magnet" human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents.
AbstractList Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in "mosquito-magnet" human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents.Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in "mosquito-magnet" human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents.
Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in "mosquito-magnet" human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents.
Author Morita, Takeshi
Dedmon, Laura C
Boehmler, Daniel J
De Obaldia, Maria Elena
Jiang, Caroline S
Zeledon, Emely V
Cross, Justin R
Vosshall, Leslie B
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Maria Elena
  surname: De Obaldia
  fullname: De Obaldia, Maria Elena
  email: medeobaldia@gmail.com
  organization: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: medeobaldia@gmail.com
– sequence: 2
  givenname: Takeshi
  surname: Morita
  fullname: Morita, Takeshi
  organization: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA
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  givenname: Laura C
  surname: Dedmon
  fullname: Dedmon, Laura C
  organization: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
– sequence: 4
  givenname: Daniel J
  surname: Boehmler
  fullname: Boehmler, Daniel J
  organization: Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Cancer Metabolism Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA
– sequence: 5
  givenname: Caroline S
  surname: Jiang
  fullname: Jiang, Caroline S
  organization: Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
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  givenname: Emely V
  surname: Zeledon
  fullname: Zeledon, Emely V
  organization: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA
– sequence: 7
  givenname: Justin R
  surname: Cross
  fullname: Cross, Justin R
  organization: Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Cancer Metabolism Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA
– sequence: 8
  givenname: Leslie B
  surname: Vosshall
  fullname: Vosshall, Leslie B
  email: leslie@rockefeller.edu
  organization: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA; Kavli Neural Systems Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: leslie@rockefeller.edu
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Issue 22
Keywords metabolomics
skin
olfaction
Aedes aegypti
sebum
behavior
chemosensory receptors
mosquito
Language English
License Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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References 36306730 - Cell. 2022 Oct 27;185(22):4040-4042. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.044
36413599 - Sci Signal. 2022 Nov 22;15(761):eadf8520. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.adf8520
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Snippet Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to...
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SubjectTerms Aedes
Animals
Anopheles
Carboxylic Acids - pharmacology
Humans
Insect Repellents - analysis
Insect Repellents - pharmacology
Odorants - analysis
Title Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels
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