PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Williams, Michael J.
TI  - <em>Drosophila</em> Hemopoiesis and Cellular Immunity
AID  - 10.4049/jimmunol.178.8.4711
DP  - 2007 Apr 15
TA  - The Journal of Immunology
PG  - 4711--4716
VI  - 178
IP  - 8
4099  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/178/8/4711.short
4100  - http://www.jimmunol.org/content/178/8/4711.full
SO  - J. Immunol.2007 Apr 15; 178
AB  - 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.