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      Is Open Access

      Drosophila as a model system to unravel the layers of innate immunity to infection

      review-article
      ,
      Open Biology
      The Royal Society
      innate immunity, Drosophila, host defence

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          Summary

          Innate immunity relies entirely upon germ-line encoded receptors, signalling components and effector molecules for the recognition and elimination of invading pathogens. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster with its powerful collection of genetic and genomic tools has been the model of choice to develop ideas about innate immunity and host–pathogen interactions. Here, we review current research in the field, encompassing all layers of defence from the role of the microbiota to systemic immune activation, and attempt to speculate on future directions and open questions.

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          Most cited references142

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          Cytokine/Jak/Stat signaling mediates regeneration and homeostasis in the Drosophila midgut.

          Cells in intestinal epithelia turn over rapidly due to damage from digestion and toxins produced by the enteric microbiota. Gut homeostasis is maintained by intestinal stem cells (ISCs) that divide to replenish the intestinal epithelium, but little is known about how ISC division and differentiation are coordinated with epithelial cell loss. We show here that when enterocytes (ECs) in the Drosophila midgut are subjected to apoptosis, enteric infection, or JNK-mediated stress signaling, they produce cytokines (Upd, Upd2, and Upd3) that activate Jak/Stat signaling in ISCs, promoting their rapid division. Upd/Jak/Stat activity also promotes progenitor cell differentiation, in part by stimulating Delta/Notch signaling, and is required for differentiation in both normal and regenerating midguts. Hence, cytokine-mediated feedback enables stem cells to replace spent progeny as they are lost, thereby establishing gut homeostasis.
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            Drosophila microbiome modulates host developmental and metabolic homeostasis via insulin signaling.

            The symbiotic microbiota profoundly affect many aspects of host physiology; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying host-microbe cross-talk are largely unknown. Here, we show that the pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (PQQ-ADH) activity of a commensal bacterium, Acetobacter pomorum, modulates insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) in Drosophila to regulate host homeostatic programs controlling developmental rate, body size, energy metabolism, and intestinal stem cell activity. Germ-free animals monoassociated with PQQ-ADH mutant bacteria displayed severe deregulation of developmental and metabolic homeostasis. Importantly, these defects were reversed by enhancing host IIS or by supplementing the diet with acetic acid, the metabolic product of PQQ-ADH.
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              Evidence that stem cells reside in the adult Drosophila midgut epithelium.

              Adult stem cells maintain organ systems throughout the course of life and facilitate repair after injury or disease. A fundamental property of stem and progenitor cell division is the capacity to retain a proliferative state or generate differentiated daughter cells; however, little is currently known about signals that regulate the balance between these processes. Here, we characterize a proliferating cellular compartment in the adult Drosophila midgut. Using genetic mosaic analysis we demonstrate that differentiated cells in the epithelium arise from a common lineage. Furthermore, we show that reduction of Notch signalling leads to an increase in the number of midgut progenitor cells, whereas activation of the Notch pathway leads to a decrease in proliferation. Thus, the midgut progenitor's default state is proliferation, which is inhibited through the Notch signalling pathway. The ability to identify, manipulate and genetically trace cell lineages in the midgut should lead to the discovery of additional genes that regulate stem and progenitor cell biology in the gastrointestinal tract.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Open Biol
                Open Biol
                RSOB
                royopenbio
                Open Biology
                The Royal Society
                2046-2441
                May 2012
                May 2012
                : 2
                : 5
                : 120075
                Affiliations
                Laboratory of Genes and Development, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford , South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
                Author notes
                Article
                rsob120075
                10.1098/rsob.120075
                3376734
                22724070
                9dc37679-4e62-4f1c-aca0-e7906e2781d5

                © 2012 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 3 April 2012
                : 25 April 2012
                Categories
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                199
                197
                33
                Review
                Review Article
                Custom metadata
                May 2012

                Life sciences
                drosophila,host defence,innate immunity
                Life sciences
                drosophila, host defence, innate immunity

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