Insects and many other invertebrates often kill metazoan parasites through the cellular immune response of encapsulation. Despite the fundamental importance of this response to invertebrates, the molecules regulating hemocyte function during capsule formation are poorly understood. Particularly unclear is the molecular basis for non-self recognition and the underlying mechanism by which the hemocytes adhere to the foreign target and each other. One class of molecules that may mediate these adhesive interactions is the integrins, a highly conserved group of heterodimeric (composed of separate a and b subunits) cell surface receptors that are known to function in a wide range of cellular adhesion events in mammals. We have isolated three separate a-integrin subunits and one b subunit from the cabbage looper, Pseudoplusia includens. Differential expression levels of these four genes after a variety of immune challenges indicates their involvement in cell-mediated immune responses.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Noctuidae Pseudoplusia includens (soybean looper)
Keywords: hemocytes, immunity
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