title: Proteolytic activation of pro-spätzle is required for the induced transcription of antimicrobial peptide genes in lepidopteran insects.
abstract: Microbial infection leads to proteolytic activation of Drosophila spätzle, which binds to the toll receptor and induces the synthesis of immune proteins. To test whether or not this mechanism exists in lepidopteran insects, we cloned the cDNA of Bombyx mori spätzle-1 and overexpressed the full-length and truncated BmSpz1 cDNA in Escherichia coli. The insoluble fusion proteins were affinity-purified under denaturing condition. After the silkworm larvae were injected with renatured BmSpz1, mRNA levels of antimicrobial peptide genes greatly increased. Similar transcriptional up-regulation was also found in Manduca sexta. Injection of pro-BmSpz1 had no such effect. When pro-BmSpz1 and Micrococcus luteus were incubated with the plasma from M. sexta larvae, we detected proteolytic processing of pro-BmSpz1. These results suggest that active spätzle is required for the induced production of antimicrobial peptides in B. mori and M. sexta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tingcai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Subrahmanyam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rayaprolu
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Qingyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Zhonghuai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Haobo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D012831:Bombyx / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000502:physiology; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006868:Hydrolysis; D018402:Manduca / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; C086179:spz protein, Drosophila; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases