title: Toll-related receptors and the control of antimicrobial peptide expression in Drosophila.
abstract: Insects defend themselves against infectious microorganisms by synthesizing potent antimicrobial peptides. Drosophila has appeared in recent years as a favorable model to study this innate host defense. A genetic analysis of the regulation of the antifungal peptide drosomycin has demonstrated a key role for the transmembrane receptor Toll, which prompted the search for mammalian homologs. Two of these, Toll-like receptor (TLR)2 and TLR4, recently were shown to play a critical role in innate immunity against bacteria. Here we describe six additional Toll-related genes (Toll-3 to Toll-8) in Drosophila in addition to 18-wheeler. Two of these genes, Toll-3 and Toll-4, are expressed at a low level. Toll-6, -7, and -8, on the other hand, are expressed at high levels during embryogenesis and molting, suggesting that, like Toll and 18w, they perform developmental functions. Finally, Toll-5 is expressed only in larvae and adults. By using chimeric constructs, we have tested the capacity of the signaling Toll/IL-1R homology domains of these receptors to activate antimicrobial peptide promoters and found that only Toll and Toll-5 can activate the drosomycin promoter in transfected cells, thus demonstrating specificity at the level of the Toll/IL-1R homology domain. In contrast, none of these constructs activated antibacterial peptide promoters, suggesting that Toll-related receptors are not involved in the regulation of antibacterial peptide expression. This result was independently confirmed by the demonstration that a dominant-negative version of the kinase Pelle can block induction of drosomycin by the cytokine Spaetzle, but does not affect induction of the antibacterial peptide attacin by lipopolysaccharide.
authors.affiliation: UPR9022 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, F-67084 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tauszig
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jouanguy
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Imler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002460:Cell Line; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010455:Peptides; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051198:Toll-Like Receptor 5; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D010455:Peptides; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2; D051197:Toll-Like Receptor 4; D051198:Toll-Like Receptor 5; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; C495341:tehao protein, Drosophila