Review
Virology
Liselotte E. E. Jensen
Summary: Pellino proteins are important ubiquitin ligases in intracellular signaling involved in immune responses. Viruses can target Pellino proteins to evade the immune system. Mouse models of viral infections have shown both beneficial and detrimental effects of Pellino proteins on immune responses. This review highlights the diverse aspects of viral immunity and pathogenesis associated with Pellino proteins and emphasizes the need for further research.
Article
Immunology
Allison M. Owen, Liming Luan, Katherine R. R. Burelbach, Margaret A. A. McBride, Cody L. L. Stothers, Olivia A. A. Boykin, Kalkena Sivanesam, Jessica F. F. Schaedel, Tazeen K. K. Patil, Jingbin Wang, Antonio Hernandez, Naeem K. K. Patil, Edward R. R. Sherwood, Julia K. K. Bohannon
Summary: Immunocompromised populations are at high risk of life-threatening infections, and strategies to protect these patients are urgently needed. This study explores the use of trained immunity, which enhances the immune response to subsequent infections, as a promising approach. The researchers demonstrate that the MyD88-dependent signaling pathway plays a critical role in TLR-mediated trained immunity, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying this process.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Fisheries
Juliette Schneider, Jean-Luc Imler
Summary: The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is a valuable model for studying innate immune mechanisms, especially in the context of viral infections. Research has uncovered the importance of RNA interference and inducible transcriptional responses in antiviral immunity in fruitflies. Recent discoveries of signaling pathways in fruitflies, such as the STING-IKK beta-Relish cassette, highlight the role of NF-kappa B transcription factors in controlling viral infections, in addition to bacterial and fungal infections.
DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Pengzhi Qi, Yashu Wu, Zhongqi Gu, Hongfei Li, Jiji Li, Baoying Guo, Zhi Liao, Xiaojun Yan
Summary: This study identified a novel TLR isoform called McTLRlike1 in the mollusk Mytilus coruscus. McTLR-like1 was highly expressed in immune-related tissues and its levels increased when challenged with V. alginolyticus. It was found that McTLR-like1 activated NF-kappa B and influenced the expression and phosphorylation of its subunit P65. Silencing McTLR-like1 led to downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased resistance to V. alginolyticus challenge. McTLR-like1 also showed affinity with McMyD88a. These findings contribute to our understanding of TLR signaling in mollusks and provide insights into TLR evolution.
DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna L. Aalto, Veera Luukkonen, Annika Meinander
Summary: Cells respond to pathogens and danger signals by adapting gene expression and activating molecular pathways in order to protect the organism. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster serves as a model organism to study immune signaling and defense mechanisms. The immune response in fruit flies includes cellular and humoral responses, which are regulated by ubiquitination and changes in protein levels.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Leticia Ferreira Lima, Andre Quintanilha Torres, Rodrigo Jardim, Rafael Dias Mesquita, Renata Schama
Summary: The study evaluated the diversity of Toll pathway gene families in 39 Arthropod genomes, encompassing 13 different Insect Orders, shedding light on the evolution and functional annotation of protein families involved in the Toll pathway innate immune response. The results indicated species-specific expansions in intracellular proteins of the Toll pathway, distinct evolutionary backgrounds for different Toll subfamilies, and challenges in homology-based functional inference for some subfamilies. Understanding the evolutionary backgrounds and distinct functions of Toll gene subfamilies is important for accurate functional studies, especially for specific clades like TOLL9, TOLL, TOLL2_7, and TOLL10. Overcoming biases and considering diverse species representation are crucial for functional characterization of Toll pathways.
Article
Cell Biology
Xueqing Hu, Wenqian Zhou, Shun Wu, Rui Wang, Zhiyong Luan, Xin Geng, Na Xu, Zhaoyong Zhang, Zhenmin Ruan, Zenghui Wang, Furong Li, Chen Yu, Hongqi Ren
Summary: The study revealed that tacrolimus has protective effects against LPS-induced SA-AKI by inhibiting the TLR4/MyD88/NF-kappa B signaling pathway and podocyte dysfunction, providing another potential therapeutic approach for LPS-induced SA-AKI.
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Yangyang Zhu, Lei Liu, Chuchu Zhang, Chao Zhang, Tingting Han, Renjie Duan, Yiheng Jin, Huimin Guo, Kan She, Yihua Xiao, Akira Goto, Qingshuang Cai, Shanming Ji
Summary: In Drosophila, the endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation (ERAD) is involved in regulating various biological processes. This study found that ERAD plays a role in mediating the Toll innate immune response, but not the IMD immune response in fly fat bodies. The gene Me31B was identified to have a functional role in ERAD-mediated immune defense. Additionally, the study showed that silencing Xbp1 partially rescued the immune defects caused by dysregulated ERAD. These findings highlight the essential function of ERAD in the Toll immune reaction in Drosophila.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Nigel S. Atkinson
Summary: An understanding of neuroimmune signaling is crucial for understanding alcohol addiction and its damaging effects. The neuroimmune system can influence neural activity through gene expression changes. This review explores the role of CNS Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling in alcohol response. It also highlights findings in Drosophila that suggest TLR signaling pathways can impact behavior beyond commonly recognized mechanisms, such as TLRs substituting for neurotrophin receptors and non-genomic actions of NF-κB in alcohol responsivity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Terry R. Medler, Tiffany C. Blair, Alejandro F. Alice, Alexa K. Dowdell, Brian D. Piening, Marka R. Crittenden, Michael J. Gough
Summary: Radiation therapy induces immunogenic cell death in cancer cells, and the released endogenous adjuvants are sensed by immune cells to direct adaptive immune responses. MyD88 signaling in myeloid cells is identified as a critical source of immunosuppression in hinder adaptive immune tumor control following radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Nobuhide Kobayashi, Kimihiro Abe, Sachiyo Akagi, Mayu Kitamura, Yoshitake Shiraishi, Aki Yamaguchi, Masahiro Yutani, Sho Amatsu, Takuhiro Matsumura, Nobuhiko Nomura, Noriyuki Ozaki, Nozomu Obana, Yukako Fujinaga
Summary: Bacterial membrane vesicles produced by Clostridium botulinum and related species induce host inflammatory responses and immune reactions.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Hauke Johannes Weiss, Luke Anthony John O'Neill
Summary: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 2011 to three immunologists – Bruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann, and Ralph M. Steinman. Their research in innate and adaptive immunity significantly advanced the understanding of the immune system. Hoffmann's discovery of the toll gene and Beutler's characterization of the Toll-like gene played crucial roles in the field of innate immune sensing and its implications in infections.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Mar Garcia-Ferres, Carlos Sanchez-Higueras, Jose Manuel Espinosa-Vazquez, James C-G Hombria
Summary: The corpora allata and the prothoracic glands control moulting and metamorphosis in insects. These endocrine glands are regulated by the same upstream genes, supporting the hypothesis that they originated from a repeated organ.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pragya Prakash, Arghyashree Roychowdhury-Sinha, Akira Goto
Summary: A new negative regulator of the IMD pathway in Drosophila, Velo, has been identified, with its knock-down leading to constitutive expression of AMPs and enhanced antimicrobial peptide expression upon bacterial stimulation. Velo is found to reside in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, and its downregulation results in increased immune response and reduced bacterial load, making the flies more susceptible to infection.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Yongzhi Hua, Yangyang Zhu, Yixuan Hu, Fanrui Kong, Renjie Duan, Chao Zhang, Chuchu Zhang, Shikun Zhang, Yiheng Jin, Yizhu Ye, Qingshuang Cai, Shanming Ji
Summary: This study reveals the dual mechanisms by which the dTrbd/dTak1 feedback loop precisely regulates the innate immune response in Drosophila, highlighting its significance for the maintenance of immune homeostasis.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jie-Ru Yu, Tian-Jiao Feng, Xiu-Deng Zheng, Da-Hua Chen, Yi Tao
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Zhudong Liu, Lingling Deng, Shichang Wang, Xiudeng Zheng, Marcel Holyoak, Jacob D. Wickham, Yi Tao, Jianghua Sun
Summary: Risk plays a role in mediating the level of cooperation in parasitoid wasps, with higher mortality risks leading to more cooperation and lower risks leading to more frequent free riding. This study provides an experimental demonstration of risk-driven cooperation in parasitoids.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qingshuang Cai, Shanming Ji, Mengwan Li, Sen Zheng, Xiuhong Zhou, Huimin Guo, Siyu Deng, Junyan Zhu, Daxiang Li, Zhongwen Xie
Summary: Theaflavins have been shown to delay aging in Drosophila by preventing age-onset intestinal leakage and dysbiosis, while also playing a role in modulating intestinal integrity in mice through regulating Imd signals.
Article
Biology
Qiao-Qiao He, Xiu-Deng Zheng, Ruth Mace, Yi Tao, Ting Ji
Summary: This study investigates the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation in a finite kin population, considering both kin selection and kin competition. The results show the conditions under which Hamilton's rule still applies in the presence of kin competition, as well as the biological mechanism driving the evolution of cooperation in a limited kin population.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Sabin Lessard, Cong Li, Xiu-Deng Zheng, Yi Tao
Summary: The evolution of cooperation in Prisoner's Dilemmas with random cost and benefit involves considerations of stochastic effects and frequency dependence. In an infinite population, the fixation of cooperation is stochastically stable based on the mean geometric inclusive fitness, while in a finite population, the probability of cooperation fixing depends on the frequency and mean inclusive fitness. These results are based on a linear fitness function and conditions of weak selection and additive gene action may be necessary for applications in complex settings.
THEORETICAL POPULATION BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Tian-Jiao Feng, Jie Mei, Rui-Wu Wang, Sabin Lessard, Yi Tao, Xiu-Deng Zheng
Summary: The influence of environmental noise on cyclic dominance in the rock-paper-scissors game is explored using the stochastic stability theory of Ito's stochastic differential equations. Stochastic stability conditions for constant equilibrium states are obtained, and stochastic simulations of the global dynamics are performed. The results show that none of the fixation states of the system can be stochastically stable, and an increase in the noise level can result in the loss of stochastic stability of the constant interior equilibrium. Moreover, the simulation results reveal the appearance of a noise-induced quasi-heteroclinic cycle when the constant interior equilibrium loses its stochastic stability as the noise level increases.
DYNAMIC GAMES AND APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jie Mei, Yi Tao, Cong Li, Xiu-Deng Zheng
Summary: This study extends evolutionary game dynamics with non-uniform interaction rates to finite population and investigates the influence of non-uniform interaction rates on fixation probability under weak selection. The stochastic dynamic properties of a two-phenotype game with non-uniform interaction rates in a finite population are analyzed by utilizing the diffusion approximation of the Moran process and assuming weak selection. The analysis reveals the potential evolutionary complexity of game dynamics in finite population caused by non-uniform interaction rates.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Yongzhi Hua, Yangyang Zhu, Yixuan Hu, Fanrui Kong, Renjie Duan, Chao Zhang, Chuchu Zhang, Shikun Zhang, Yiheng Jin, Yizhu Ye, Qingshuang Cai, Shanming Ji
Summary: This study reveals the dual mechanisms by which the dTrbd/dTak1 feedback loop precisely regulates the innate immune response in Drosophila, highlighting its significance for the maintenance of immune homeostasis.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Tian-Jiao Feng, Song-Jia Fan, Cong Li, Yi Tao, Xiu-Deng Zheng
Summary: This paper investigates the dynamical properties of the stochastic Prisoner's Dilemma (SPD) game based on the concept proposed by Bereby-Meyer and Roth. The results show that for the non-repeated SPD game, increasing noise intensity leads to the loss of stochastic stability and non-equilibrium phase transition, while the fixation probability of cooperation increases. However, for the stochastic TFT-AllD game, increasing noise intensity leads to the loss of stochastic stability but not the non-equilibrium phase transition.
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION
(2023)
Article
Developmental Biology
Qingshuang Cai, Jing Yan, Renjie Duan, Yangyang Zhu, Yongzhi Hua, Yongrong Liao, Qingyang Li, Weini Li, Shanming Ji
Summary: The Drosophila ovary has been a well-established system for studying stem cell fate determination mechanisms. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling promotes the maintenance of germline stem cells (GSCs) by inhibiting the transcription of the bag-of-marbles (bam) gene. This study reveals that the E3 ligase Cullin-2 (Cul2) is involved in regulating Bam ubiquitination, which is crucial for GSC maintenance and proper germline development.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Qingshuang Cai, Huimin Guo, Rong Fang, Yongzhi Hua, Yangyang Zhu, Xianrui Zheng, Jing Yan, Jiale Wang, Yixuan Hu, Chuchu Zhang, Chao Zhang, Renjie Duan, Fanrui Kong, Shikun Zhang, Di Chen, Shanming Ji
Summary: The Toll signaling pathway is involved in early embryogenesis and innate immune response. In this study, the researchers found that one of the transcription factors of the Toll pathway in fruit flies, dorsal, can induce the expression of E3 ligase Bre1, which promotes the transcription of cactus to regulate the Toll immune response.
Article
Biology
Cong Li, Tianjia Feng, Yi Tao, Xiudeng Zheng, Jiajia Wu
Summary: This article examines whether natural selection can effectively resist the continuous disturbance of environmental noise in order to maintain the direction or outcome of evolution determined by deterministic selection pressure. By analyzing the impact of weak selection on stochastic replicator dynamics, it is found that weak selection can enhance evolutionary stability. Under weak selection, the stochastic evolutionary stability of the system is determined by the mean payoff matrix. This finding strongly suggests that weak selection should be regarded as an important mechanism for ensuring evolutionary stability in stochastic environments.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Tian-Jiao Feng, Cong Li, Xiu-Deng Zheng, Sabin Lessard, Yi Tao
Summary: The concept of evolutionary stability in a stochastic environment is developed through investigating the continuous-time dynamics of a two-phenotype linear evolutionary game with generally correlated random payoffs. By extending the replicator equation, a stochastic differential equation called the stochastic replicator equation is deduced. Conditions for stochastic stability of fixation states or constant interior equilibrium points are given, and it is shown that fixation states that are stochastically stable must correspond to strategies that are stochastically evolutionarily stable with respect to mixed strategies, but this is not the case for mixed strategies corresponding to stochastically stable constant interior equilibrium points with respect to the two phenotypes.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Tian-Jiao Feng, Jie Mei, Cong Li, Xiu-Deng Zheng, Sabin Lessard, Yi Tao
Summary: This paper investigates the stochastic stability of multiphenotype symmetric and asymmetric matrix games with random payoffs, providing new perspectives and a general theoretical framework for a better understanding of the evolution of animal behavior in a stochastic environment.
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Yangyang Zhu, Qingshuang Cai, Xianrui Zheng, Lei Liu, Yongzhi Hua, Beibei Du, Guomin Zhao, Jiangliu Yu, Zhao Zhuo, Zhongwen Xie, Shanming Ji
Summary: The study showed that long-term intake of aspirin can significantly prevent age-related gut leakage, intestinal stem cell over-proliferation, and dysbiosis in fruit flies. Aspirin downregulates chronic activation of intestinal immune deficiency signaling during aging, positively modulating intestinal homeostasis and delaying aging in Drosophila.