Thioester-Containing Proteins 2 and 4 Affect the Metabolic Activity and Inflammation Response in Drosophila
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster is an outstanding model for studying host antipathogen defense. Although substantial progress has been made in understanding how metabolism and immunity are interrelated in flies, little information has been obtained on the molecular players that regulate metabolism and inflammation in Drosophila during pathogenic infection. Recently, we reported that the inactivation of thioester-containing protein 2 (Tep2) and Tep4 promotes survival and decreases the bacterial burden in flies upon infection with the virulent pathogens Photorhabdus luminescens and Photorhabdus asymbiotica Here, we investigated physiological and pathological defects in tep mutant flies in response to Photorhabdus challenge. We find that tep2 and tep4 loss-of-function mutant flies contain increased levels of carbohydrates and triglycerides in the presence or absence of Photorhabdus infection. We also report that Photorhabdus infection leads to higher levels of nitric oxide and reduced transcript levels of the apical caspase-encoding gene Dronc in tep2 and tep4 mutants. We show that Tep2 and Tep4 are upregulated mainly in the fat body rather than the gut in Photorhabdus-infected wild-type flies and that tep mutants contain decreased number...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Ataxia telangiectasia (MDS)
Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare neurodegenerative diseases caused by defects in the ATM gene, which is involved in DNA damage recognition and repair pathways. Here is the latest research on this autosomal recessive disease.
Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis
Apoptotic Caspases
Apoptotic caspases belong to the protease enzyme family and are known to play an essential role in inflammation and programmed cell death. Here is the latest research.
Caspases in Metabolic Diseases
Caspases, the family of cysteine proteases are involved in programmed cell death, but their role in metabolic diseases, inflammation and immunity has been of interested. Discover the latest research on caspases in metabolic diseases here.