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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
A Galleria mellonella Oral Administration Model to Study Commensal-Induced Innate Immune Responses
Published on: March 21, 2019
An atomic force microscopy study of Galleria mellonella apolipophorin III effect on bacteria
Agnieszka Zdybicka-Barabas1, Barbara Januszanis, Pawel Mak
1Department of Invertebrate Immunology, Institute of Biology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, 19 Akademicka St., 20-033 Lublin, Poland [corrected].
Abstract:
Apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) is an abundant hemolymph protein involved in lipid transport and immune response in insects. As revealed by LIVE/DEAD staining, incubation of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria in the presence of Galleria mellonella apoLp-III led to growth inhibition of selected bacteria. An atomic force microscopy (AFM) study of bacterial cells after apoLp-III treatment showed considerable alterations in the cell surface of Bacillus circulans, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella typhimurium. Our results clearly demonstrate that apoLp-III disturbed the proper structure of the bacterial cell surface. The alterations were dissimilar to those caused by cationic antimicrobial peptide, cecropin B, suggesting a different mode of action against bacteria. The present results indicate that AFM provides a powerful tool for studying the interactions of apoLp-III with microbial cells.
