title: Multinucleated Giant Hemocytes Are Effector Cells in Cell-Mediated Immune Responses of Drosophila.
abstract: We identified and characterized a so far unrecognized cell type, dubbed the multinucleated giant hemocyte (MGH), in the ananassae subgroup of Drosophilidae. Here, we describe the functional and ultrastructural characteristics of this novel blood cell type as well as its characterization with a set of discriminative immunological markers. MGHs are encapsulating cells that isolate and kill the parasite without melanization. They share some properties with but differ considerably from lamellocytes, the encapsulating cells of Drosophila melanogaster, the broadly used model organism in studies of innate immunity. MGHs are nonproliferative effector cells that are derived from phagocytic cells of the sessile tissue and the circulation, but do not exhibit phagocytic activity. In contrast to lamellocytes, MGHs are gigantic cells with filamentous projections and contain many nuclei, which are the result of the fusion of several cells. Although the structure of lamellocytes and MGHs differ remarkably, their function in the elimination of parasites is similar, which is potentially the result of the convergent evolution of interactions between hosts and parasites in different geographic regions. MGHs are highly motile and share several features with mammalian multinucleated giant cells, a syncytium of macrophages formed during granulomatous inflammation.
authors: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: Róbert
authors: R
authors: Márkus
authors: Zita
authors: Z
authors: Lerner
authors: Viktor
authors: V
authors: Honti
authors: Gábor
authors: G
authors: Csordás
authors: János
authors: J
authors: Zsámboki
authors: Gyöngyi
authors: G
authors: Cinege
authors: Árpád
authors: Á
authors: Párducz
authors: Tamás
authors: T
authors: Lukacsovich
authors: Éva
authors: É
authors: Kurucz
authors: István
authors: I
authors: Andó
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000276:immunology*; D004330:Drosophila; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D006434:Hemocytes; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D010587:Phagocytosis