Dif and cactus are colocalized in the larval nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster

The Rel protein Dif is a transcription factor suggested to control part of the immune response in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In uninfected animals, Dif is normally located in the cytoplasm, most likely in a complex with an IkappaB molecule such as Cactus. Upon infection, Dif is enriched in the nucleus of immunoresponsive tissues such as fat body and blood cells. Rel proteins in mammals not only participate in the control of the immune response, but are also thought to play important roles in the function of the nervous system. Here, we demonstrate that both Dif and Cactus are expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) of Drosophila. Interestingly, Dif and Cactus colocalize in their distribution, suggesting a functional link between these proteins in the CNS. In the larval CNS, both Dif and Cactus are expressed at relatively low levels in most cells and at high levels in the mushroom bodies and in small subsets of neurosecretory cells. The cytoplasmic localization of Dif and Cactus in the CNS cells is not affected by bacterial challenge. Instead, we observed changes in nuclear versus cytoplasmic localization of Cactus (but not Dif) along the dark-light cycle, with a strong nuclear localization in perineurial glia toward the end of the dark period. In the CNS of the prepupa, the intensity of the immunostaining for both Dif and Cactus is higher than in the larva. Interestingly, in fat body of uninfected prepupae, the Dif localization was mainly nuclear, suggesting a function for Dif during the process of pupariation.