title: A novel mode of induction of the humoral innate immune response inDrosophilalarvae.
abstract: Drosophilaadults have been utilized as a genetically tractable model organism to decipher the molecular mechanisms of humoral innate immune responses. In an effort to promote the utility ofDrosophilalarvae as an additional model system, in this study, we describe a novel aspect of an induction mechanism for innate immunity in these larvae. By using a fine tungsten needle created for manipulating semi-conductor devices, larvae were subjected to septic injury. However, although Toll pathway mutants were susceptible to infection with Gram-positive bacteria as had been shown forDrosophilaadults, microbe clearance was not affected in the mutants. In addition,Drosophilalarvae were found to be sensitive to mechanical stimuli with respect to the activation of a sterile humoral response. In particular, pinching with forceps to a degree that might cause minor damage to larval tissues could induce the expression of the antifungal peptide geneDrosomycin; notably, this induction was partially independent of the Toll and immune deficiency pathways. We therefore propose thatDrosophilalarvae might serve as a useful model to analyze the infectious and non-infectious inflammation that underlies various inflammatory diseases such as ischemia, atherosclerosis and cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biopharmacy and Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kenmoku
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biopharmacy and Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan.|Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.
authors.forename: Aki
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5375-6678
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biopharmacy and Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan tkuraishi@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp kurata@m.tohoku.ac.jp.|Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.|Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa 920-1192, Japan.|PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo 102-0076, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9493-6082
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuraishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biopharmacy and Genetics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan tkuraishi@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp kurata@m.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shoichiro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0301-872X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007814:Larva / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D029721:Drosophila Proteins
keywords: Drosophila; Innate immunity; Larvae