Abstract
The innate immune response is evolutionary conserved among organisms. The complement system forms an important and efficient immune defense mechanism. It consists of plasma proteins that participate in microbial detection, which ultimately results in the production of various molecules with antimicrobial activity. Thioester-containing proteins (TEPs) are a superfamily of secreted effector proteins. In vertebrates, certain TEPs act in the innate immune response by promoting recruitment of immune cells, phagocytosis, and direct lysis of microbial invaders. Insects are excellent models for dissecting the molecular basis of innate immune recognition and response to a wide range of microbial infections. Impressive progress in recent years has generated crucial information on the role of TEPs in the antibacterial and antiparasite response of the tractable model insect Drosophila melanogaster and the mosquito malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. This knowledge is critical for better understanding the evolution of TEPs and their involvement in the regulation of the host innate immune system.
Highlights
Innate immunity is a fundamental process for early recognition and subsequent induction of proinflammatory responses against invading pathogens [1]
Recent efforts have mostly focused on understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms that regulate the participation of thioester-containing proteins (TEPs) in interfering with the transmission of eukaryotic parasites and activating innate immune responses against pathogenic infections in insects [76, 79,80,81,82]
Tissue-specific profiling of Tep gene expression would possible denote their specificity toward certain microbial infections
Summary
Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States Edited by: Larry J. Dishaw, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, United States Reviewed by: Simon John Clark, University of Manchester, United Kingdom Lubka T. Roumenina, INSERM UMRS 1138, France Specialty section: This article was submitted to Molecular Innate Immunity, a section of the journal
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