Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, K.U. Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2010 Jun;34(6):690-8. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2010.02.003. Epub 2010 Feb 17.
The striking similarities between the innate defences of vertebrates and invertebrates as well as the amenability of Caenorhabditis elegans for genetic analysis, have made this free-living ground nematode a popular model system in the study of bacterial pathogenesis. Although genetic studies have brought new insights, showing the inducibility and pathogen-specificity of the immune response, there is still much to be discovered about the exact mechanisms underlying resistance to infection. In this paper a different angle was adopted to study host-pathogen interactions in C. elegans. We report the application of differential gel electrophoresis (DIGE), combined with mass spectrometry to search for proteins that are differentially synthesised in the worm after infection with the gram-negative bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Given the dynamic nature of an immune response, the proteome of C. elegans was investigated at three different time-points after infection. A total of 65 differential proteins were identified. This study confirms the involvement of galectins, C-type lectins and lipid binding proteins in the immunity of C. elegans. In addition a number of unknown proteins, which might represent important players of the worm's defence system, were isolated and identified. This work gives a first indication of the complex changes that occur at the protein level during infection.
脊椎动物和无脊椎动物先天防御之间的显著相似性，以及秀丽隐杆线虫易于进行遗传分析，使得这种自由生活的土壤线虫成为研究细菌发病机制的常用模式生物系统。尽管遗传研究带来了新的见解，表明免疫反应的诱导性和病原体特异性，但对于感染抗性的确切机制仍有许多需要发现。在本文中，我们采用了不同的角度来研究秀丽隐杆线虫中的宿主-病原体相互作用。我们报告了差异凝胶电泳（DIGE）与质谱联用的应用，以寻找在革兰氏阴性菌嗜水气单胞菌感染后在蠕虫中差异合成的蛋白质。鉴于免疫反应的动态性质，在感染后三个不同时间点研究了秀丽隐杆线虫的蛋白质组。总共鉴定了 65 种差异蛋白。这项研究证实了半乳凝素、C 型凝集素和脂质结合蛋白参与了秀丽隐杆线虫的免疫反应。此外，还分离和鉴定了一些未知的蛋白质，它们可能代表蠕虫防御系统的重要参与者。这项工作首次表明了感染过程中在蛋白质水平上发生的复杂变化。
