Lagueux, M., Perrodou, E., Levashina, E.A., Capovilla, M., Hoffmann, J.A. (2000). Constitutive expression of a complement-like protein in Toll and JAK gain-of-function mutants of Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97(21): 11427--11432.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0129919
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
We show that Drosophila expresses four genes encoding proteins with significant similarities with the thiolester-containing proteins of the complement C3/alpha(2)-macroglobulin superfamily. The genes are transcribed at a low level during all stages of development, and their expression is markedly up-regulated after an immune challenge. For one of these genes, which is predominantly expressed in the larval fat body, we observe a constitutive expression in gain-of-function mutants of the Janus kinase (JAK) hop and a reduced inducibility in loss-of-function hop mutants. We also observe a constitutive expression in gain-of-function Toll mutants. We discuss the possible roles of these novel complement-like proteins in the Drosophila host defense.
