title: The raspberry Gene Is Involved in the Regulation of the Cellular Immune Response in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Drosophila is an extremely useful model organism for understanding how innate immune mechanisms defend against microbes and parasitoids. Large foreign objects trigger a potent cellular immune response in Drosophila larva. In the case of endoparasitoid wasp eggs, this response includes hemocyte proliferation, lamellocyte differentiation and eventual encapsulation of the egg. The encapsulation reaction involves the attachment and spreading of hemocytes around the egg, which requires cytoskeletal rearrangements, changes in adhesion properties and cell shape, as well as melanization of the capsule. Guanine nucleotide metabolism has an essential role in the regulation of pathways necessary for this encapsulation response. Here, we show that the Drosophila inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), encoded by raspberry (ras), is centrally important for a proper cellular immune response against eggs from the parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi. Notably, hemocyte attachment to the egg and subsequent melanization of the capsule are deficient in hypomorphic ras mutant larvae, which results in a compromised cellular immune response and increased survival of the parasitoid.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Beáta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kari
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csordás
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Honti
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gyöngyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cinege
authors.affiliation: Functional Pharmacology, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Andó
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Éva
authors.initials: É
authors.lastname: Kurucz
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006147:Guanine / Q000737:chemistry; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007814:Larva / Q000276:immunology; D009154:Mutation; D034622:RNA Interference; D014863:Wasps
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D006147:Guanine; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase; C000609465:ras protein, Drosophila