Matova Nina, Anderson Kathryn V
Developmental Biology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Oct 31;103(44):16424-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0605721103. Epub 2006 Oct 23.
Studies on Drosophila immunity have focused on the humoral response, whereas less is known about the Drosophila cellular immunity. Here we show that mutants that lack the Drosophila Rel/NF-kappaB proteins Dorsal and Dif have very few blood cells, are constitutively infected by opportunistic microbes, and die from infection as larvae. When the double mutants are grown in microbe-free conditions, the animals are rescued from chronic infection and many survive to adult stages. Thus, Dif and Dorsal are required for survival because they protect the animal from infection by microbes from the environment. Specific expression of Dif or dorsal in the blood cell lineage is sufficient to restore blood cell number, clear microbes, and allow survival to the adult stage. These findings demonstrate that the cellular immune response is essential for the ability of Drosophila to survive in their standard laboratory environment, and that Dif and Dorsal control crucial aspects of the cellular immune response, including blood cell survival and the ability to fight off microbial infection.
对果蝇免疫的研究主要集中在体液反应上，而对果蝇细胞免疫的了解较少。在这里，我们表明缺乏果蝇Rel/NF-κB蛋白背侧（Dorsal）和背侧相关免疫因子（Dif）的突变体血细胞很少，会被机会性微生物持续感染，并在幼虫期死于感染。当双突变体在无菌条件下生长时，动物可从慢性感染中获救，许多能够存活到成年阶段。因此，Dif和Dorsal是生存所必需的，因为它们保护动物免受来自环境的微生物感染。Dif或dorsal在血细胞谱系中的特异性表达足以恢复血细胞数量、清除微生物并使动物存活到成年阶段。这些发现表明，细胞免疫反应对于果蝇在标准实验室环境中的生存能力至关重要，并且Dif和Dorsal控制着细胞免疫反应的关键方面，包括血细胞存活和抵抗微生物感染的能力。
