Premium
Coenzyme Q plays opposing roles on bacteria/fungi and viruses in Drosophila innate immunity
Author(s) -
Cheng W.,
Song C.,
Anjum K. M.,
Chen M.,
Li D.,
Zhou H.,
Wang W.,
Chen J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of immunogenetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1744-313X
pISSN - 1744-3121
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-313x.2011.01012.x
Subject(s) - biology , innate immune system , drosophila (subgenus) , immunity , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , coenzyme q – cytochrome c reductase , immune system , gene , virology , genetics , mitochondrion , cytochrome c
Summary Coenzyme Q (CoQ or ubiquinone) is a lipid‐soluble component of virtually all types of cell membranes and has been shown to play multiple metabolic functions. Several clinical diseases including encephalomyopathy, cerebellar ataxia and isolated myopathy were shown to be associated with CoQ deficiency. However, the role of CoQ in immunity has not been defined. In the present study, we showed that flies defective in CoQ biosynthetic gene coq2 were more susceptible to bacterial and fungal infections, while were more resistant to viruses. We found that Drosophila contained both CoQ9 and CoQ10, and food supplement of CoQ10 could partially rescue the impaired immune functions of coq2 mutants. Surprisingly, wild‐type flies fed CoQ10 became more susceptible to viral infection, which suggested that extra caution should be taken when using CoQ10 as a food supplement. We further showed that CoQ was essential for normal induction of anti‐microbial peptides and amplification of viruses. Our work determined CoQ content in Drosophila and described its function in immunity for the first time.