Recognition of pathogenic microbes by the Drosophila phagocytic pattern recognition receptor Eater.

ABSTRACT: Non-opsonic phagocytosis is a primordial form of pathogen recognition that is mediated by the direct interaction of phagocytic receptors with microbial surfaces. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the EGF-like repeat containing scavenger receptor Eater is expressed by phagocytes and is required to survive infections with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. However, the mechanisms by which this receptor recognizes different types of bacteria are poorly understood. To address this problem, we generated a soluble, Fc-tagged receptor variant of Eater comprising the N-terminal 199 amino acids including four EGF-like repeats. We first established that Eater-Fc displayed specific binding to broad yet distinct classes of heat- or ethanol-inactivated microbes and behaved similarly to t

SUBMITTER: Chung YS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3143617 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature