Armitage Sophie A O, Kurtz Joachim, Brites Daniela, Dong Yuemei, Du Pasquier Louis, Wang Han-Ching
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
Tuberculosis Research Unit, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
Front Immunol. 2017 Jun 9;8:662. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00662. eCollection 2017.
The () gene is an extraordinary example of diversity: by combining alternatively spliced exons, thousands of isoforms can be produced from just one gene. So far, such diversity in this gene has only been found in insects and crustaceans, and its essential part in neural wiring has been well-characterized for . Ten years ago evidence from showed that the gene is involved in insect immune defense and work on indicated that it is a hypervariable immune receptor. These exciting findings showed that processes of somatic diversification insects have the possibility to produce unexpected immune molecule diversity, and it was hypothesized that could provide the mechanistic underpinnings of specific immune responses. Since these first publications the quest to understand the function of this gene has uncovered fascinating insights from insects and crustaceans. However, we are still far from a complete understanding of how Dscam1 functions in relation to parasites and pathogens and its full relevance for the immune system. In this Hypothesis and Theory article, we first briefly introduce and what we know so far about how it might function in immunity. By focusing on seven questions, we then share our sometimes contrasting thoughts on what the evidence tells us so far, what essential experiments remain to be done, and the future prospects, with the aim to provide a multiangled view on what this fascinating gene has to do with immune defense.
（）基因是多样性的一个非凡例子：通过组合可变剪接外显子，仅一个基因就能产生数千种异构体。到目前为止，这种基因的多样性仅在昆虫和甲壳类动物中发现，并且其在神经布线中的关键作用已在……中得到充分表征。十年前，来自……的证据表明该基因参与昆虫免疫防御，并且关于……的研究表明它是一种高度可变的免疫受体。这些令人兴奋的发现表明，昆虫体细胞多样化过程有可能产生意想不到的免疫分子多样性，并且据推测，……可以为特异性免疫反应提供机制基础。自这些首次发表以来，对该基因功能的探索从昆虫和甲壳类动物中发现了引人入胜的见解。然而，我们距离完全理解Dscam1如何与寄生虫和病原体相关发挥作用及其对免疫系统的全部相关性仍有很大差距。在这篇假设与理论文章中，我们首先简要介绍……以及到目前为止我们对其在免疫中可能发挥作用的了解。通过关注七个问题，我们随后分享我们有时相互矛盾的想法，即证据目前告诉我们什么、仍有待进行哪些关键实验以及未来前景如何，旨在从多角度审视这个迷人的基因与免疫防御的关系。
