Immunoprofiling of Drosophila Hemocytes by Single-cell Mass Cytometry

Single-cell mass cytometry (SCMC) combines features of traditional flow cytometry (i.e., fluorescence-activated cell sorting) with mass spectrometry, making it possible to measure several parameters at the single-cell level for a complex analysis of biological regulatory mechanisms. In this study, we optimized SCMC to analyze hemocytes of the Drosophila innate immune system. We used metal-conjugated antibodies (against cell surface antigens H2, H3, H18, L1, L4, and P1, and intracellular antigens 3A5 and L2) and anti-IgM (against cell surface antigen L6) to detect the levels of antigens, while anti-GFP was used to detect crystal cells in the immune-induced samples. We investigated the antigen expression profile of single cells and hemocyte populations in naive states, in immune-induced states, in tumorous mutants bearing a driver mutation in the Drosophila homologue of Janus kinase (hop(Tum)) and carrying a deficiency of the tumor suppressor gene lethal(3)malignant blood neoplasm-1 [l(3)mbn(1)], as well as in stem cell maintenance-defective hdc(Lambda 84) mutant larvae. Multidimensional analysis enabled the discrimination of the functionally different major hemocyte subsets for lamellocytes, plasmatocytes, and crystal cells, and delineated the unique immunophenotype of Drosophila mutants. We have identified subpopulations of L2(+)/P1(+) and L2(+)/L4(+)/P1(+) transitional phenotype cells in the tumorous strains l(3)mbn(1) and hop(Tum), respectively, and a subpopulation of L4(+)/P1(+) cells upon immune induction. Our results demonstrated for the first time that SCMC, combined with multidimensional bioinformatic analysis, represents a versatile and powerful tool to deeply analyze the regulation of cell-mediated immunity of Drosophila.

Automated summary

Single-cell mass cytometry (SCMC) was optimized to analyze hemocytes of the Drosophila innate immune system, revealing the functional differences of major hemocyte subsets and the unique immunophenotype of Drosophila mutants through multidimensional analysis. Subpopulations of transitional phenotype cells were identified in tumorous strains and upon immune induction, demonstrating the versatility and power of SCMC combined with multidimensional bioinformatic analysis in deeply analyzing cell-mediated immunity regulation in Drosophila.