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Infection of the larval airway epithelium by Erwinia carotovora

ABSTRACT: The unsurpassed simplicity of the fruitfly’s airway epithelium, that is made of homogenous epithelial cells only, favours its use as a model to study general features and response characteristics of airway epithelia in general. All epithelial cells are able to launch an immune response as characterized by the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes. Infection induces a complex change in the expression profile of these epithelial cells. Outstanding are a priming of the immune system and the launch of a survival program, presumably to counteract infection induced apoptotic signals, which comprises the concurrent expression of known longevity genes such as dFoxo, and dThor. In regions of the airway epithelium with strong immune reactions, a complex remodelling of the airways can be observed, which is characterized by metaplasia and presumably also by hyperplasia of the affected epithelial cells. At the transcriptional level, this reorganization of the airway epithelium is mirrored by a recapitulation of genetic programs that are characteristic for early phases of airway development. Taken together, the response characteristics of the fly’s airway epithelium towards infections discloses features that are known from inflammatory diseases of the human lung, thus opening the opportunity to study fundamental aspects of these diseases in the fly. Keywords:infection, Erwinia c., third instar larva, airway epithelium, two-colour microarray

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE11444 | GEO | 2009/05/11

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA109117

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The unsurpassed simplicity of the fruitflyâs airway epithelium, that is made of homogenous epithelial cells only, favours its use as a model to study general features and response characteristics of airway epithelia in general. All epithelial cells are able to launch an immune response as characterized by the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes. Infection induces a complex change in the expression profile of these epithelial cells. Outstanding are a priming of the immune system and the launch of a survival program, presumably to counteract infection induced apoptotic signals, which comprises the concurrent expression of known longevity genes such as dFoxo, and dThor. In regions of the airway epithelium with strong immune reactions, a complex remodelling of the airways can be observed, which is characterized by metaplasia and presumably also by hyperplasia of the affected epithelial cells. At the transcriptional level, this reorganization of the airway epithelium is mirrored by a recapitulation of genetic programs that are characteristic for early phases of airway development. Taken together, the response characteristics of the flyâs airway epithelium towards infections discloses features that are known from inflammatory diseases of the human lung, thus opening the opportunity to study fundamental aspects of these diseases in the fly. Keywords:infection, Erwinia c., third instar larva, airway epithelium, two-colour microarray Infection of the airway epithelium by the gram-negativ bacteria Erwinia carotovora. For the infection experiments third instar larvae of the GFP-reporter strain YW DD1 were used and only isolated when the whole epithelium of the airway epithelium showed GFP expression. Uninfected larvae were used as controls. In general, four replicates were performed including dye-swaps. A table of significantly-regulated genes from the SAM-output and GeneTraffic-output has been linked as a supplementary file at the foot of this record.

Project description:Lectins are proteins present on cell surfaces or as shed extracellular proteins that function in innate immune defense as phagocytic receptors to recognize specific bacterial cell wall components. Based on the knowledge that cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of bacterial infection, we hypothesized that cigarette smoking may modulate the expression of lectin genes in the airway epithelium. Affymetrix HG U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays were used to survey expression of lectin genes in large (3rd to 4th order bronchi) airway epithelium from 9 normal nonsmokers and 20 phenotypic normal smokers and small (10th to 12th order bronchi) airway epithelium from 13 normal nonsmokers and 20 phenotypic normal smokers. From the 72 lectin genes that were surveyed, there were no changes (>2-fold change, p<0.05) in gene expression in either large or small airway epithelium among normal smokers compared to nonsmokers except for a striking down regulation in both large and small airway epithelium of normal smokers of intelectin 1, a recently described lectin that participates in the innate immune response by recognizing and binding to galactofuranosyl residues in the cell walls of bacteria (large airway epithelium, p<0.003; small airway epithelium, p<0.002). TaqMan RT-PCR confirmed the observation that intelectin 1 was down-regulated in both large (p<0.05) and small airway epithelium (p<0.02) of normal smokers compared to normal nonsmokers. Immunohistochemistry assessment of biopsies of the large airway epithelium of normal nonsmokers demonstrated intelectin 1 was expressed in secretory cells, with qualitatively decreased expression in biopsies from normal smokers. Western analysis confirmed the decreased expression of intelectin 1 in airway epithelium of normal smokers compared to normal nonsmokers (p<0.02). Finally, compared to normal nonsmokers, intelectin 1 expression was decreased in small airway epithelium of smokers with early COPD (n= 13, p<0.001) and smokers with established COPD (n= 14, p<0.001), in a fashion similar to that of normal smokers. In the context that intelectin 1 is an epithelial molecule that likely plays a role in defense against bacteria, the down regulation of expression of intelectin 1 in response to cigarette smoking may contribute to the increase in susceptibility to infections observed in smokers, including those with COPD. Keywords: COPD Comparison of gene expression in airway epithelial cells of normal non-smokers, phenotypic normal smokers, smokers with early COPD, and smokers with COPD.

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Infection of the larval airway epithelium by Erwinia carotovora

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