| Title | Activation of Drosophila Toll during fungal infection by a blood serine protease. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2002 |
| Authors | Ligoxygakis P, Pelte N, Hoffmann JA, Reichhart J-M |
| Journal | Science (New York, N.Y.) |
| Volume | 297 |
| Issue | 5578 |
| Pagination | 114-6 |
| Date Published | 2002 Jul 5 |
| ISSN | 1095-9203 |
| Keywords | Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Chromosome Mapping, Drosophila, Drosophila Proteins, Escherichia coli, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Genes, Insect, Gram-Positive Cocci, Hemolymph, Hypocreales, Insect Proteins, Male, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Protein Sorting Signals, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Receptors, Cell Surface, Serine Endopeptidases, Toll-Like Receptors |
| Abstract | Drosophila host defense to fungal and Gram-positive bacterial infection is mediated by the Spaetzle/Toll/cactus gene cassette. It has been proposed that Toll does not function as a pattern recognition receptor per se but is activated through a cleaved form of the cytokine Spaetzle. The upstream events linking infection to the cleavage of Spaetzle have long remained elusive. Here we report the identification of a central component of the fungal activation of Toll. We show that ethylmethane sulfonate-induced mutations in the persephone gene, which encodes a previously unknown serine protease, block induction of the Toll pathway by fungi and resistance to this type of infection. |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.1072391 |
| Alternate Journal | Science |