ショウジョウバエToll経路は、病原体や組織傷害に対する自然免疫応答をはじめ、胚発生、細胞間相互作用等重要な生理的プロセスに関与している。しかしなが ら、主に病原体を認識する哺乳動物のToll様受容体の自然免疫経路と比較して、多様な応答性を有するショウジョウバエToll受容体のシグナル伝達因子とその制御機構は完全には解明されていない。本研究では、包括的なゲノムワイドRNAiスクリーニングとシグナル伝達因子複合体プロテーム解析により、Tollシグナル伝達経路に関 与するプロテインキナーゼ等の候補分子を同定し、Toll経路の制御機構に関して新たな仮説を提唱するに至った。
The Drosophila Toll pathway is involved in embryonic development, innate immunity, and cell-cell interactions. However, compared to the mammalian Toll-like receptor innate immune pathway, its intracellular signaling mechanisms are not fully understood. We have previously performed a series of ex vivo genome-wide RNAi screenings to identify genes required for the activation of the Toll pathway. In this study, we have conducted an additional genome-wide RNAi screening using the overexpression of Tube, an adapter molecule in the Toll pathway, and have performed a co-immunoprecipitation assay to identify components present in the dMyd88-Tube complex. Based on the results of these assays, we have performed a bioinformatic analysis, and describe candidate molecules and post-translational modifications that could be involved in Drosophila Toll signaling.