CELLULAR DEFENSE RESPONSE IN AN INSECT SYSTEM

描述（改编自申请人的申请）：这是一个5年 一项名为“细胞防御反应"的提案的竞争性更新 昆虫系统在之前的提案中，PI开发了一个优雅的系统， 研究幼虫血细胞对异物的包裹作用 的蛾类，拟夜蛾。这些研究意义重大，因为 包囊构成昆虫免疫的基本成分 反应在此次竞争性续约中，PI将继续调查 两种细胞类型，浆细胞和颗粒细胞参与了这一过程， 反应他还将扩展以前对浆细胞扩散肽的研究 （PSP 1），其诱导浆细胞经历粘附状态的变化， 释放特定的效应分子。本申请具有4个具体实施例。 目标：1.表征PSP 1活性所必需的结构特征; 2， 鉴定PSP 1受体，3，鉴定介导浆细胞 粘附，和4，检查浆细胞诱导的特性， 细胞毒拟夜蛾大量血细胞的可利用性 包括，以及PI中开发的具体技术和方法 实验室是支持这种实验系统有力论据， 将提供重要的免疫功能的比较见解， 节肢动物媒介。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Applicant's Application): This is a 5-year competitive renewal of a proposal entitled 'Cellular defense response in an insect system.' In the previous proposal the PI has developed an elegant system to investigate the encapsulation of a foreign object by hemocytes from larvae of the moth, Pseudoplusia includens. These studies are significant because encapsulation constitutes a fundamental component of the insect immune response. In this competing renewal, the PI will continue his investigation of the two cell types, plasmatocytes and granular cells that participate in this response. He will also extend previous work on a plasmatocyte spreading peptide (PSP1), which induces plasmatocytes to undergo a change in adhesive state and to release specific effector molecules. The present application has 4 specific aims: 1. To characterize structural features of PSP1 essential for activity; 2, to identify a PSP1 receptor, 3, to identify molecules that mediate plasmatocyte adhesion, and 4, to examine characteristics of plasmatocyte-induced cytotoxicity. The availability of large numbers of hemocytes from Pseudoplusia includens, and the specific techniques and approaches developed in the PI's laboratory are strong arguments in favor of this experimental system, which will provide important comparative insights into immunity functions in arthropod vectors.