Project description:The Drosophila phagocytic receptor Eater is expressed specifically in phagocytic hemocytes. It contributes to host immune defense and is required for survival of bacterial infections. Eater is involved in recognition and phagocytosis of bacteria. We used microarrays to determine whether any gene expression changes after bacterial phagocytosis are dependent on the expression of the phagocytic scavenger receptor Eater. We found transcriptional regulation in response to bacterial internalization, but no significant differences between controls and samples in which eater expression had been diminshed by RNAi eater knock down.
Project description:The Drosophila phagocytic receptor Eater is expressed specifically in phagocytic hemocytes. It contributes to host immune defense and is required for survival of bacterial infections. Eater is involved in recognition and phagocytosis of bacteria. We used microarrays to determine whether any gene expression changes after bacterial phagocytosis are dependent on the expression of the phagocytic scavenger receptor Eater. We found transcriptional regulation in response to bacterial internalization, but no significant differences between controls and samples in which eater expression had been diminshed by RNAi eater knock down. Drosophila S2 cells, a hemocyte-derived cell line with phagocytic properties, were exposed to a mixture of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria at conditions of 50% of cell binding. At different time points of synchronized phagocytosis (30, 90 and 180 minutes) total RNA was extracted and subjected to microarray analysis. We compared S2 cells in which Eater expression was decreased by RNA interference with control S2 cells exposed to irrelevant double-stranded (pBR322). Three independent experiments were performed corresponding to three biological replicates. Decreased phagocytosis due to RNAi eater knock down was controlled in all cases.