Proteolytic cascades and their involvement in invertebrate immunity.
Bacteria and other potential pathogens are cleared rapidly from the body fluids of invertebrates by the immediate response of the innate immune system. Proteolytic cascades, following their initiation by pattern recognition proteins, control several such reactions, notably coagulation, melanisation, activation of the Toll receptor and complement-like reactions. However, there is considerable variation among invertebrates and these cascades, although widespread, are not present in all phyla. In recent years, significant progress has been made in identifying and characterizing these cascades in insects. Notably, recent work has identified several connections and shared principles among the different pathways, suggesting that cross-talk between them may be common.
Cerenius
Lage
L
Department of Comparative Physiology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
Kawabata
Shun-ichiro
S
Lee
Bok Luel
BL
Nonaka
Masaru
M
Söderhäll
Kenneth
K
D000818:Animals; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny
D010447:Peptide Hydrolases