Components of the insect clot, an extremely rapid forming and critical part of insect immunity, are just beginning to be identified (1). Here we present a proteomic comparison of larval hemolymph before and after clotting to learn more about this process. This approach was supplemented by the identification of substrates for the enzyme transglutaminase, which plays a role in both vertebrate blood clotting (as factor XIIIa) and hemolymph coagulation in arthropods. Hemolymph proteins present in lower amounts after clotting include CG8502 (a protein with a mucin-type domain and a domain with similarity to cuticular components), CG11313 (a protein with similarity to prophenoloxidase-activating proteases), and two phenoloxidases, lipophorin, a secreted gelsolin, and CG15825, which had previously been isolated from clots (2). Proteins whose levels increase after clotting include a ferritin-subunit and two members of the immunoglobulin family with a high similarity to the small immunoglobulin-like molecules involved in mammalian innate immunity. Our results correlate with findings from another study of coagulation (2) that involved a different experimental approach. Proteomics allows the isolation of novel candidate clotting factors, leading to a more complete picture of clotting. In addition, our two-dimensional protein map of cell-free Drosophila hemolymph includes many additional proteins that were not found in studies performed on whole hemolymph.

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