Metamorphosis and collagen-IV-fragments stimulate innate immune response in the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1108-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boran Altincicek ◽  
Andreas Vilcinskas
Author(s):  
Iwona Wojda ◽  
Paulina Taszłow ◽  
Teresa Jakubowicz

AbstractInsect immune system consists of only innate mechanisms relied on cellular and humoral branches. Many defence proteins and peptides exist or appear in response to infection in insect’s hemolymph. The interaction between the infected host and the entomopathogen occurs in the conditions of external environment. In this work the greater wax moth larvae of Galleria mellonella were subjected to a temperature of 120C for a short period of time, directly before infection with entomopathogenic bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. It appeared that the induction of the immune response was higher in cold-shocked animals than in larvae permanently reared at the optimal temperature of 28 0C. This enhanced immune response was manifested as higher antibacterial and lysozyme-type activity detected in full hemolymph, and as a higher level of peptides of molecular weight below 10 kDa having antibacterial activity. Moreover, other changes in the contents of proteins in the hemolymph were observed. These changes concerned inter alia apolipophorin III, the multifunctional protein of immune significance. Its level was higher in the hemolymph of animals pre-exposed to cold shock than in nonshocked, infected ones. Altogether our results indicate that the interdependence mechanisms occur between cold shock and the immune response.


2017 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Mc Namara ◽  
James C. Carolan ◽  
Christine T. Griffin ◽  
David Fitzpatrick ◽  
Kevin Kavanagh

Author(s):  
Masanori Asai ◽  
Gerard Sheehan ◽  
Yanwen Li ◽  
Brian D. Robertson ◽  
Kevin Kavanagh ◽  
...  

The larvae of the insect Galleria mellonella, have recently been established as a non-mammalian infection model for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). To gain further insight into the potential of this model, we applied proteomic (label-free quantification) and transcriptomic (gene expression) approaches to characterise the innate immune response of G. mellonella to infection with Mycobacterium bovis BCG lux over a 168 h time course. Proteomic analysis of the haemolymph from infected larvae revealed distinct changes in the proteome at all time points (4, 48, 168 h). Reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR confirmed induction of five genes (gloverin, cecropin, IMPI, hemolin, and Hdd11), which encoded proteins found to be differentially abundant from the proteomic analysis. However, the trend between gene expression and protein abundance were largely inconsistent (20%). Overall, the data are in agreement with previous phenotypic observations such as haemocyte internalization of mycobacterial bacilli (hemolin/β-actin), formation of granuloma-like structures (Hdd11), and melanization (phenoloxidase activating enzyme 3 and serpins). Furthermore, similarities in immune expression in G. mellonella, mouse, zebrafish and in vitro cell-line models of tuberculosis infection were also identified for the mechanism of phagocytosis (β-actin). Cecropins (antimicrobial peptides), which share the same α-helical motif as a highly potent peptide expressed in humans (h-CAP-18), were induced in G. mellonella in response to infection, giving insight into a potential starting point for novel antimycobacterial agents. We believe that these novel insights into the innate immune response further contribute to the validation of this cost-effective and ethically acceptable insect model to study members of the MTBC.


2004 ◽  
Vol 382 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja CLERMONT ◽  
Marianne WEDDE ◽  
Volkhard SEITZ ◽  
Lars PODSIADLOWSKI ◽  
Dido LENZE ◽  
...  

The first IMPI (inhibitor of metalloproteinases from insects) was identified in the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella [Wedde, Weise, Kopacek, Franke and Vilcinskas (1998) Eur. J. Biochem. 255, 535–543]. Here we report cloning and expression of a cDNA coding for this IMPI. The IMPI mRNA was identified among the induced transcripts from a subtractive and suppressive PCR analysis after bacterial challenge of G. mellonella larvae. Induced expression of the IMPI during a humoral immune response was confirmed by real-time PCR, which documented up to 500 times higher amounts of IMPI mRNA in immunized larvae in comparison with untreated ones. The IMPI sequence shares no similarity with those of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases or other natural inhibitors of metalloproteinases, and the recombinant IMPI specifically inhibits thermolysin-like metalloproteinases, but not matrix metalloproteinases. These results support the hypothesis that the IMPI represents a novel type of immune-related protein which is induced and processed during the G. mellonella humoral immune response to inactivate pathogen-associated thermolysin-like metalloproteinases.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Stevenson ◽  
Deborah Hodgson ◽  
Megan J. Oaten ◽  
Luba Sominsky ◽  
Mehmet Mahmut ◽  
...  

Abstract. Both disgust and disease-related images appear able to induce an innate immune response but it is unclear whether these effects are independent or rely upon a common shared factor (e.g., disgust or disease-related cognitions). In this study we directly compared these two inductions using specifically generated sets of images. One set was disease-related but evoked little disgust, while the other set was disgust evoking but with less disease-relatedness. These two image sets were then compared to a third set, a negative control condition. Using a wholly within-subject design, participants viewed one image set per week, and provided saliva samples, before and after each viewing occasion, which were later analyzed for innate immune markers. We found that both the disease related and disgust images, relative to the negative control images, were not able to generate an innate immune response. However, secondary analyses revealed innate immune responses in participants with greater propensity to feel disgust following exposure to disease-related and disgusting images. These findings suggest that disgust images relatively free of disease-related themes, and disease-related images relatively free of disgust may be suboptimal cues for generating an innate immune response. Not only may this explain why disgust propensity mediates these effects, it may also imply a common pathway.


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