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BRIEF REVIEWS |
Umeå Centre for Molecular Pathogenesis, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
In Drosophila melanogaster larvae, three classes of circulating cellular immune surveillance cells (hemocytes) can be identified: plasmatocytes, crystal cells, and lamellocytes. Plasmatocytes are professional phagocytes most similar to the mammalian monocyte/macrophage lineage and make up 
95% of circulating hemocytes. The other 5% of circulating hemocytes consists of crystal cells, which secrete components necessary for the melanization of invading organisms, as well as for wound repair. A third cell type known as lamellocytes are rarely seen in healthy larvae and are involved in the encapsulation of invading pathogens. There are no obvious mammalian counterparts for crystal cells or lamellocytes, and there is no equivalent to the lymphoid lineage in insects. In this review, I will discuss what is currently known about Drosophila hemopoiesis and the cellular immune response and where possible compare it to vertebrate mechanisms.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Michael J. Williams, Umeå Centre for Molecular Pathogenesis, Umeå University, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden. E-mail address: michael.williams{at}ucmp.umu.se
2 Abbreviations used in this paper: Srp, Serpent; Dscam, Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule; EGF, epidermal growth factor; Gcm, Glial cell missing; Gcm2, Glial cell missing-2; Hop, Hopscotch; Kn, Knot; Lz, Lozenge; lz, lozenge; PGRP-LC, peptidoglycan recognition protein LC; TEP, thio-ester containing complement-related protein; tsp68c, tetraspanin68c; ush, u-shaped; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor.
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