Cytotoxic reactions associated with insect immunity.

Abstract

Insects and other invertebrates lack the immunoglobulins and adaptive responses that characterize vertebrates yet possess efficient innate immune systems comprised of both cellular and humoral elements (Gillespie et al., 1997; Vilmos and Kurucz, 1998). The evolutionary origins and molecular basis for the various recognitive mechanisms remain among the most intriguing of immunological puzzles at all levels of biological organization (Ratcliffe, 1993; Ottaviani and Franceschi, 1998). Frequently, the first line of defense against potentially invasive organisms are integumental or midgut defenses, which may involve various cytotoxic proteins and antimicrobial peptides synthesized by epidermal cells and transported to the sites of wounding (Brey et al., 1993; Furukawa et al., 1999). Foreign organisms that breach integumental barriers or instead pass through the gut wall to invade the host’s hemocoel encounter reactive blood cells, and an array of both non-specific and specific inducible cytotoxic molecules.KeywordsNitric OxidePhenol OxidaseQuinone MethidesInsect DefensinInsect ImmunityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.