Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, V5A 1S6, BC, Canada.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2019 Sep;98:119-128. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2019.04.007. Epub 2019 Apr 20.
Kissing bugs have long served as models to study many aspects of insect physiology. They also serve as vectors for the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas disease in humans. The overall success of insects is due, in part, to their ability to recognize parasites and pathogens as non-self and to eliminate them using their innate immune system. This immune system comprises physical barriers, cellular responses (phagocytosis, nodulation and encapsulation), and humoral factors (antimicrobial peptides and the prophenoloxidase cascade). Trypanosoma cruzi survives solely in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the vector; if it migrates to the hemocoel it is eliminated. Kissing bugs may not mount a vigorous immune response in the GI tract to avoid eliminating obligate symbiotic microbes on which they rely for survival. Here we describe the current knowledge of innate immunity in kissing bugs and new opportunities using genomic and transcriptomic approaches to study the complex triatomine-trypanosome-microbiome interactions.
接吻虫长期以来一直被用作研究昆虫生理学多个方面的模型。它们还是导致人类恰加斯病的寄生虫克氏锥虫的传播媒介。昆虫的整体成功部分归因于它们识别寄生虫和病原体的能力，并利用先天免疫系统将其清除。该免疫系统包括物理屏障、细胞反应（吞噬作用、结节和包裹）和体液因素（抗菌肽和酚氧化酶原级联反应）。克氏锥虫仅在媒介的胃肠道（GI）中存活；如果它迁移到血腔，就会被清除。接吻虫可能不会在胃肠道中产生强烈的免疫反应，以避免消除它们赖以生存的必需共生微生物。在这里，我们描述了接吻虫先天免疫的现有知识，并提供了利用基因组和转录组方法研究复杂的三锥虫-锥虫-微生物相互作用的新机会。
