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Expression and regulation of Spätzle‐processing enzyme in Drosophila
Author(s) -
Mulinari Shai,
Häcker Udo,
Castillejo-López Casimiro
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2006.09.009
Subject(s) - drosophila melanogaster , proteases , serine , innate immune system , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , serine protease , immune system , receptor , enzyme , gene , protease , biochemistry , genetics
The Drosophila melanogaster Toll receptor controls embryonic dorsal‐ventral axis formation and is crucial for the innate immune response. In both cases, Toll is activated by the enzymatically cleaved form of its ligand Spätzle (Spz). During axis formation, Spz is cleaved by the maternally provided serine protease Easter while the Spätzle‐processing enzyme (SPE) activates Spz after infection. We confirm the role of SPE in immunity and show that it is a zygotic gene specifically expressed in immune tissues implying that the dual activation of Spz is achieved by differential spatiotemporal expression of two similar but distinct serine proteases.