Cuticle is the most important structure that protects mosquitoes and other insect species from adverse environmental conditions and infections of microorganism. The physiology and biochemistry of insect cuticle formation have been studied for many years and our understanding of cuticle formation and hardening has increased considerably. This is especially true for flexible cuticle. The recent discovery of a novel enzyme that catalyzes the production of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL) in insects provides intriguing insights concerning the flexible cuticle formation in insects. For convenience, the enzyme that catalyzes the production DOPAL from l-dopa is named DOPAL synthase. In this mini-review, we summarize the biochemical pathways of cuticle formation and hardening in general and discuss DOPAL synthase-mediated protein crosslinking in insect flexible cuticle in particular.

中文翻译：

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3，4-二羟基苯基乙醛合酶与昆虫表皮形成。

角质层是保护蚊子和其他昆虫免受不利环境条件和微生物感染的最重要结构。昆虫角质层形成的生理学和生物化学已经研究了很多年，并且我们对角质层形成和硬化的了解已大大增加。对于柔性表皮尤其如此。最近发现的一种新型酶催化昆虫中3,4-二羟基苯基乙醛（DOPAL）的产生提供了有关昆虫中柔性表皮形成的有趣见解。为了方便起见，催化从1-多巴生产DOPAL的酶被称为DOPAL合酶。在此迷你评论中，