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First published online October 8, 2008

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Getting defensive with nonaspanins

The phagocytosis of invading bacteria is an important facet of the cellular immune response in multicellular organisms. The nonaspanin TM9SF4 (the homologue for which, PHG1A, mediates phagocytosis in the unicellular slime mould Dictyostelium) has been proposed to be important in cellular immunity - but does it have a phagocytic role? Marie-Odile Fauvarque and colleagues (p. 3325) have previously shown that TM9SF4 is required for resistance of Drosophila to infection by Gram-negative (but not Gram-positive) bacteria. They now report that haemocytes (macrophages) in TM9SF4 mutant flies have decreased phagocytic activity against Gram-negative bacteria in vitro. In addition, the mutant fly larvae have a diminished cellular immune response in response to parasitisation by wasp eggs. Notably, macrophages from mutant flies have disorganised lamellipodia and atypical intracellular actin organisation - thus, cytoskeletal defects might underpin the phagocytic deficiency of TM9SF4^-/- cells. In phagocytic Drosophila cells in culture (S2 cells), the authors show, TM9SF4 and the related nonaspanin TM9SF2 both contribute to bacterial internalisation. These data indicate that TM9SF4 has a key role in phagocytosis during cellular immunity.

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Related articles in JCS:

TM9SF4 is required for Drosophila cellular immunity via cell adhesion and phagocytosis

Evelyne Bergeret, Jackie Perrin, Michael Williams, Didier Grunwald, Elodie Engel, Dominique Thevenon, Emmanuel Taillebourg, Franz Bruckert, Pierre Cosson, and Marie-Odile Fauvarque
JCS 2008 121: 3325-3334. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?