BackgrondIn the mosquito Aedes aegypti the insulin/insulin growth factor I signaling (IIS) cascade is a key regulator of many physiological processes, including reproduction. Two important reproductive events, steroidogenesis in the ovary and yolk synthesis in the fat body, are regulated by the IIS cascade in mosquitoes. The signaling molecule phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a key inhibitor of the IIS cascade that helps modulate the activity of the IIS cascade. In Ae. aegypti, six unique splice variants of AaegPTEN were previously identified, but the role of these splice variants, particularly AaegPTEN3 and 6, were unknown.
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