The Drosophila imd signaling pathway.
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has helped us to understand how innate immunity is activated. In addition to the Toll receptor and the Toll signaling pathway, the Drosophila immune response is regulated by another evolutionarily conserved signaling cascade, the immune deficiency (Imd) pathway, which activates NF-κB. In fact, the Imd pathway controls the expression of most of the antimicrobial peptides in Drosophila; thus, it is indispensable for normal immunity in flies. In this article, we review the current literature on the Drosophila Imd pathway, with special emphasis on its role in the (patho)physiology of different organs. We discuss the systemic response, as well as local responses, in the epithelial and mucosal surfaces and the nervous system.
Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, BioMediTech, University of Tampere, FIN-33014 Tampere, Finland;
Henna
H
Myllymäki
Susanna
S
Valanne
Mika
M
Rämet
D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007109:Immunity; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D015398:Signal Transduction
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C439909:imd protein, Drosophila; C118897:peptidoglycan recognition protein