Project description:The phagocytic elimination of cells undergoing apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved innate immune mechanism for eliminating unnecessary cells. Previous studies showed an increase in the level of engulfment receptors in phagocytes after the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, which leads to the enhancement of their phagocytic activity. However, precise mechanisms underlying this phenomenon require further clarification. We found that the pre-incubation of a Drosophila phagocyte cell line with the fragments of apoptotic cells enhanced the subsequent phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, accompanied by an augmented expression of the engulfment receptors Draper and integrin αPS3. The DNA-binding activity of the transcription repressor Tailless was transiently raised in those phagocytes, depending on two partially overlapping signal-transduction pathways for the induction of phagocytosis as well as the occurrence of engulfment. The RNAi knockdown of tailless in phagocytes abrogated the enhancement of both phagocytosis and engulfment receptor expression. Furthermore, the hemocyte-specific RNAi of tailless reduced apoptotic cell clearance in Drosophila embryos. Taken together, we propose the following mechanism for the activation of Drosophila phagocytes after an encounter with apoptotic cells: two partially overlapping signaltransduction pathways for phagocytosis are initiated; transcription repressor Tailless is activated; expression of engulfment receptors is stimulated; and phagocytic activity is enhanced. This phenomenon most likely ensures the phagocytic elimination of apoptotic cells that stimulated phagocytes find thereafter and is thus considered as a mechanism to prime phagocytes in innate immunity.
Project description:We report the proteome composition of the Drosophila eye – a compound organ that is highly enriched in membrane proteins. The fly eye is a popular model to study the physiology of vision by means of genetic, pharmacological, and dietary interference.While the eye transcriptome and development-related changes of gene expression profiles have been extensively studied, little is known about the eye proteome.we employed GeLC-MS/MS to identify and rank the abundances of 3516 eye proteins. Moreover, we applied our MS Western method to determine the absolute (molar) abundances of a related set of proteins that are important for photoreceptor structure (including maintenance) and function (phototransduction). Altogether, we provide a comprehensive and expandable proteomics resource that will be valuable for a variety of studies of ocular biochemistry, physiology, and development.
Project description:Thermal acclimation study on Drosophila melanogaster reared at 3 different temperatures (12, 25, and 31oC). The proteomic profiles of D. melanogaster under these different temperatures were analyzed and compared using label-free tandem mass spectrometry.