A Conserved PMK-1/p38 MAPK Is Required in Caenorhabditis elegans Tissue-specific Immune Response to Yersinia pestis Infection

作者：Bolz Devin D; Tenor Jennifer L; Aballay Alejandro^*

来源：JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, 2010, 285(14): 10832-10840.

DOI：10.1074/jbc.M109.091629

Yersinia pestis has acquired a variety of complex strategies that enable the bacterium to overcome defenses in different hosts and ensure its survival and successful transmission. A full-genome microarray analysis on Caenorhabditis elegans infected with Y. pestis shows enrichment in genes that are markers of innate immune responses and regulated by a conserved PMK-1/p38 MAPK. Consistent with a role in regulating expression of immune effectors, inhibition of PMK-1/p38 by mutation or RNA interference enhances susceptibility to Y. pestis. Further studies of mosaic animals where PMK-1/p38 is exclusively inhibited or overexpressed in a tissue-specific manner indicate that PMK-1/p38 controls expression of a CUB-like family of immune genes at the cell-autonomous level. Given the conserved nature of PMK-1/p38 MAPK-mediated signaling and innate immune responses, PMK-1/p38 MAPK may play a role in the immune response against Y. pestis in natural hosts.

• 出版日期2010-4-2