|
 We have been interested in the processing of insect innate immunity, including encapsulation, melanization and phagocytosis, which belong to the cell immune responses. Our long goal is to find some important factors that contribute to the cell immunity, then using those to develop tools for the intention of pest bio-control by introducing microbes or transgenes into crops.
Pricipal Investigator: Dr. Er-Jun Ling, Professor. Email: erjunling@sippe.ac.cn
Staff: Ping-Sheng Cao, Research Intern
Postdoctoral Fellow: Dr. Shan Wu
Graduate Students: Yang Chen; Yu-Pu Diao; Fei Liu; Cheng-Long Wang; Zhi-Xiang Wang
Inhibition on Prophenoloxidase Activation through Protein-Protein Interaction with Lysozyme in Manduca sexta
Prophenoloxidase (PPO) is an important enzyme in the insect innate immunity. After activation, the active phenoloxidase (PO) hydroxylates tyrosine into 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (L-Dopa) that is successively oxidized into Dopaquinone by PO. Dopaquinone is then oxidized into melanin through more steps mainly induced by PO. PPO has close relationship with the melanization of invaded foreigners, and it also functions in normal pigment froming, sclerotization and tanning of cuticle. In Manduca sexta, we found that the purified lysozyme can interact with prophenoloxidase through protein-protein interaction, by which to inhibit the activation of prophenoloxidase.
Publications:
Ling E, Ao JQ and Yu XQ*. (2008) Nuclear Translocation of Immulectin-3 Stimulates Hemocyte Proliferation. Molecular Immunology 45: 2598-2606. Ling E*, Shirai K, Kanekatsu R, Kiguchi K, Kobayashi Y, Funayama T and Watanabe H. (2006) Contribution of circulating hemocytes to the regeneration of heavy ion beams (12C5+) irradiated hematopoietic organs in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, through the way of phagocytosis of injured cells after invasion. Developmental & Comparative Immunology 30: 531-543.
|
