Characterization of mosquito salivary components

Mosquito saliva is a powerful cocktail of bioactive molecules that help blood feeding and, in virtue of their immunomodulatory properties, may modify the local environment at the bite site facilitating transmission and establishment of mosquito-borne pathogens. We describe here some basic experimental procedures for studying and characterizing mosquito salivary components. These include mosquito salivary gland dissection, preparation of salivary gland protein extracts, and collection of mosquito saliva, both on a small scale from individual mosquitoes and on a larger scale by artificial membrane feeding from hundreds of caged mosquitoes at the same time.