Molecular architecture of the fruit fly's airway epithelial immune system

Wagner, Christina; Isermann, Kerstin; Fehrenbach, Heinz; Roeder, Thomas

doi:10.1186/1471-2164-9-446

Cited by 63 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…We performed our studies on three commonly used D. melanogaster strains: Oregon-R, Canton-S, and w 1118 (Bloomington Stock Center, Bloomington, IN) that were kept at 25°C in a benchtop incubator on standard Drosophila medium (6.25% cornmeal, 6.25% yeast, 2% glucose, 3% sugar beet molasses, and 1% agaragar, as well as 3% nipagin and 1% propionic acid as preservatives), as described earlier (15,16). To compare sampling strategies for the characterization of microbial communities in the Drosophila intestine, we isolated DNA from (i) whole flies, (ii) manually dissected intestines (from about 20 animals per sample; only from the midgut, excluding the hindgut and the Malpighian tubules, in order to reproducibly prepare the same intestinal region), and (iii) fecal samples obtained from small cohorts of flies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive Analysis of Microbiome Dynamics in the Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster

Fink

Staubach

Kuenzel

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The diversity and structure of the intestinal microbial community has a strong influence on life history. To understand how hosts and microbes interact, model organisms with comparatively simple microbial communities, such as the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), offer key advantages. However, studies of the Drosophila microbiome are limited to a single point in time, because flies are typically sacrificed for DNA extraction. In order to test whether noninvasive approaches, such as sampling of fly feces, could be a means to assess fly-associated communities over time on the same cohort of flies, we compared the microbial communities of fly feces, dissected fly intestines, and whole flies across three different Drosophila strains. Bacterial species identified in either whole flies or isolated intestines were reproducibly found in feces samples. Although the bacterial communities of feces and intestinal samples were not identical, they shared similarities and obviously the same origin. In contrast to material from whole flies and intestines, feces samples were not compromised by Wolbachia spp. infections, which are widespread in laboratory and wild strains. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we showed that simple nutritional interventions, such as a high-fat diet or short-term starvation, had drastic and long-lasting effects on the micobiome. Thus, the analysis of feces can supplement the toolbox for microbiome studies in Drosophila, unleashing the full potential of such studies in time course experiments where multiple samples from single populations are obtained during aging, development, or experimental manipulations.T he microbial community of the metazoan intestine contributes substantially to the host's nutrition and energy balance (1). Dysregulation of the host-microbiota interaction is associated with various disease states, including chronic inflammation, obesity, or even cancer (2-4). As the complex interplay between host and microbiota is only fragmentarily understood, simple models, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, are of particular interest. The fly combines a relatively simple microbial community with an unchallenged armamentarium of methods allowing manipulation of the host (5-7). Recent deep-sequencing approaches using 454 sequencing confirmed the general finding that the bacterial community of lab-reared flies is dominated by slightly more than a few operational taxonomic units (OTUs) (8). In Drosophila, the microbiota has been shown to modulate different aspects of intestinal homeostasis, including stem cell activity and epithelial immunity (9-11). Moreover, the intestinal microbiota influences life span and growth rate (12)(13)(14).These aforementioned studies aiming to characterize the fly microbiome relied on isolation of bacterial material from whole flies or manually dissected intestines. Both approaches are invasive, and the flies must be sacrificed. Noninvasive approaches would offer the advantage that flies could be analyzed throughout their life span or before and after...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noninvasive Analysis of Microbiome Dynamics in the Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster

Fink

Staubach

Kuenzel

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…Because there is only one type of epithelial cell, it is essentially a cell culture model within an intact organism, and an immune response initiated from any one part of the tracheal system is identical to that initiated from another. Inflammatory responses in the trachea to pathogens include Toll, tumor necrosis factor-␣, c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase, and JAK/STAT signaling activity (Wagner et al, 2008).…”

Section: Inflammation/infectious Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Human Disease Models inDrosophila melanogasterand the Role of the Fly in Therapeutic Drug Discovery

2011

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“…The entirety of the tracheal system is competent to respond to infection, as was shown with a Drs-GFP reporter construct ( fig. 1 b) [20,21] . Dro expression AMP expression in barrier epithelia.…”

Section: Amp Expression In the Barrier Epithelia Of Drosophilamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some issues with the sensitivity of reporter constructs can be limited by using transcriptional profiling, which has been used to show that there is constitutive expression of Def , Metch , Drs , Att and Dpt in uninfected tracheae [20] . The entirety of the tracheal system is competent to respond to infection, as was shown with a Drs-GFP reporter construct ( fig.…”

Section: Amp Expression In the Barrier Epithelia Of Drosophilamentioning

confidence: 99%

Immune Response in the Barrier Epithelia: Lessons from the Fruit Fly <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Davis

Engström²

2012

J Innate Immun

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The barrier epithelia of multicellular organisms frequently come into direct contact with microorganisms and thus need to fulfill the important task of preventing the penetration of pathogens that could cause systemic infections. A functional immune defence in the epithelial linings of the digestive, respiratory and reproductive organs as well as the epidermis/skin of animals is therefore of crucial importance for survival. Epithelial defence reactions are likely to be evolutionarily ancient, and the use of invertebrate animal models, such as insects and nematodes, has been crucial in unravelling the mechanisms underlying epithelial immunity. This review addresses basic questions of epithelial immunity in animals and humans. It focuses on recent developments in the understanding of the immune responses in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and how the innate immune system acts locally in the epidermis and cuticle, tracheae, gut and genital organs. Both basal immune activities in epithelia that are constantly exposed to microbes as well as positive and negative regulation in response to pathogenic organisms are covered. Important immuno-physiological aspects of epithelial defence mechanisms are also discussed, such as wound healing, re-epithelialization and intestinal homeostasis.

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Molecular architecture of the fruit fly's airway epithelial immune system

Cited by 63 publications

References 28 publications

Noninvasive Analysis of Microbiome Dynamics in the Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster

Noninvasive Analysis of Microbiome Dynamics in the Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster

Human Disease Models inDrosophila melanogasterand the Role of the Fly in Therapeutic Drug Discovery

Immune Response in the Barrier Epithelia: Lessons from the Fruit Fly <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

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