Abstract

Drosophila host defense to fungal and Gram-positive bacterial infection is mediated by the Spaetzle/Toll/cactus gene cassette. It has been proposed that Toll does not function as a pattern recognition receptor per se but is activated through a cleaved form of the cytokine Spaetzle. The upstream events linking infection to the cleavage of Spaetzle have long remained elusive. Here we report the identification of a central component of the fungal activation of Toll. We show that ethylmethane sulfonate–induced mutations in the persephone gene, which encodes a previously unknown serine protease, block induction of the Toll pathway by fungi and resistance to this type of infection.

Keywords

Serine proteaseBiologyGeneToll-like receptorMicrobiologyKallikreinSerineTollProteaseReceptorGeneticsInnate immune systemBiochemistryEnzyme

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Publication Info

Year
2002
Type
article
Volume
297
Issue
5578
Pages
114-116
Citations
346
Access
Closed

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Petros Ligoxygakis, Nadège Pelte, Jules A. Hoffmann et al. (2002). Activation of <i>Drosophila</i> Toll During Fungal Infection by a Blood Serine Protease. Science , 297 (5578) , 114-116. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1072391

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DOI
10.1126/science.1072391