In Drosophila, fat-body cells and hemocytes act as part of the immune system. Fat-body cells secrete proteins, such as the antimicrobial defensins (see Chapters 2 and 3), into the hemolymph. Another protein found in hemolymph is the Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. Dscam was originally discovered in the fly as a protein involved in specifying neuronal wiring. It is also made in fat-body cells and hemocytes, which can secrete it into the hemolymph, where it is thought to recognize invading bacteria and aid in their engulfment by phagocytes.
The Dscam protein contains multiple, usually 10, immunoglobulin-like domains. The gene that encodes Dscam has, however, evolved to contain a large number of alternative exons for several of these domains (Fig. 5.24). Exon 4 of the gene encoding the Dscam protein can be any 1 of 12 different exons, each specifying an immunoglobulin domain of differing sequence. Exon cluster 6 has 48 alternative exons, cluster 9 another 33, and cluster 17 a further 2: it is estimated that the Dscam gene could encode around 38,000 protein isoforms. A role for Dscam in immunity was proposed when it was found that in vitro phagocytosis of Escherichia coli by isolated hemocytes lacking Dscam was less efficient than by normal hemocytes. These observations suggest that at least some of this extensive repertoire of alternative exons may have evolved to diversify insects’ ability to recognize pathogens. This role for Dscam has been confirmed in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, in which silencing of the Dscam homolog AgDscam has been shown to weaken the mosquito’s normal resistance to bacteria and to the malaria parasite Plasmodium. There is also evidence from the mosquito that some Dscam exons have specificity for particular pathogens. It is not clear whether Dscam isoforms are expressed in a clonal manner.
Another invertebrate, this time a mollusk, uses a different strategy to diversify an immunoglobulin superfamily protein for use in immunity. The freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata expresses a small family of fibrinogen-related proteins (FREPs) thought to have a role in innate immunity. FREPs have one or two immunoglobulin domains at their amino-terminal end and a fibrinogen domain at their carboxy terminus. The immunoglobulin domains may interact with pathogens, while the fibrinogen domain may confer on the FREP lectin-like properties that help precipitate the complex. FREPs are produced by
Fig. 5.24 The Dscam protein of Drosophila innate immunity contains multiple immunoglobulin domains and is highly diversified through alternative splicing. The gene encoding Dscam in Drosophila contains several large clusters of alternative exons. The clusters encoding exon 4 (green), exon 6 (light blue), exon 9 (red), and exon 17 (orange) contain 12, 48, 33, and 2 alternative exons, respectively. For each of these clusters, only one alternative exon is used in the complete Dscam mRNA. There is some differential usage of exons in neurons, fat-body cells, and hemocytes. All three cell types use the entire range of alternative exons for exons 4 and 6. For exon 9, there is a restricted use of alternative exons in hemocytes and fat-body cells. The combinatorial use of alternative exons in the Dscam gene makes it possible to generate more than 38,000 protein isoforms. Adapted from Anastassiou, D.: Genome Biol. 2006, 7:R2.
hemocytes and secreted into the hemolymph. Their concentration increases when the snail is infected by parasites—it is, for example, the intermediate host for the parasitic schistosomes that cause human schistosomiasis.