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UID:1338@biology.technion.ac.il

DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Jerusalem:20251208T130000

DTEND;TZID=Asia/Jerusalem:20251208T140000

DTSTAMP:20251202T110902Z

URL:https://biology.technion.ac.il/en/seminars/faculty-seminar-series-dr-a
 mir-sapir-technion/

SUMMARY:Faculty Seminar Series – Dr.  Amir Sapir (Technion) [No Categorie
 s]
DESCRIPTION:Location:   Dr.  Amir Sapir\n Affiliation: Department of Biolog
 y and the Environment\, The University of Haifa- Oranim Campus\n Host:Dr\,
  Maya Maor-Nof \n Dear Biology Students\, Postdocs\, and Faculty\,\n\n&nbs
 p\;\n\nNext week for our Faculty Seminar Series at 1:00 p.m. on Monday\, D
 ecember 8th\, we will have a talk by Dr. Amir Sapir of the Department of 
 Biology and the Environment\, The University of Haifa- Oranim Campus\, Hai
 fa\, Israel. Dr. Sapir will present a talk titled "Why do mosquitoes bite?
  cholesterol is a metabolic driver of blood feeding in mosquitoes".\n\n&nb
 sp\;\n\nTalk Abstract: \n\nMosquitoes experience a biphasic ecological\, 
 dietary\, and metabolic life cycle\, yet the\n\nbiochemical principles gui
 ding these transitions remain poorly understood. Through dietary\n\nengine
 ering to establish sterol-defined larval and adult systems\, we studied th
 e possible role of\n\nsterol and steroid metabolism in the Asian tiger mos
 quito Aedes albopictus (A. albopictus). Here\n\nwe show that larval develo
 pment\, successful metamorphosis\, and adult emergence critically rely\n\n
 on the conversion of environmental plant and fungal sterols into cholester
 ol. In adults\, we\n\nengineered an artificial blood system that allowed c
 ontrolled manipulation of dietary sterols and\n\nrevealed that cholesterol
  is an essential metabolic driver of egg production. We further show that\
 n\nfemales transfer substantial amounts of cholesterol to their eggs\, sup
 porting early larval\n\ndevelopment until the dietary conversion mechanism
  becomes transcriptionally activated. This\n\nactivation includes the expr
 ession of the dietary sterol-to-cholesterol conversion enzyme DHCR-\n\n24\
 , which emerges as a key component of the regulatory transition from mater
 nal sterols to\n\nenvironmental sterols. Together\, these findings reveal 
 a biphasic strategy in which larvae depend\n\non conversion of plant and f
 ungal sterols\, whereas adult females acquire cholesterol from blood\n\nfo
 r reproduction and for supplying eggs with cholesterol essential for early
  development\, a\n\nstrategy tightly linked to mosquito ecology. Our findi
 ngs highlight the central and stage-\n\nregulated role of sterol metabolis
 m in mosquito development\, reproduction\, and pathogenicity.\n\n&nbsp\;\n
 \nSome details about his research and publications can be found at:\n\nhtt
 ps://asapirlab.weebly.com/\n\n&nbsp\;\n\nLooking forward to seeing you!\nM
 aya 

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