Assessing the Cellular Immune Response of the Fruit Fly, Drosophila melanogaster, Using an In Vivo Phagocytosis Assay

In all animals, innate immunity provides an immediate and robust defense against a broad spectrum of pathogens. Humoral and cellular immune responses are the main branches of innate immunity, and many of the factors regulating these responses are evolutionarily conserved between invertebrates and mammals. Phagocytosis, the central component of cellular innate immunity, is carried out by specialized blood cells of the immune system. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has emerged as a powerful genetic model to investigate the molecular mechanisms and physiological impacts of phagocytosis in whole animals. Here we demonstrate an injection-based in vivo phagocytosis assay to quantify the particle uptake and destruction by Drosophila blood cells, hemocytes. The procedure allows researchers to precisely control the particle concentration and dose, making it possible to obtain highly reproducible results in a short amount of time. The experiment is quantitative, easy to perform, and can be applied to screen for host factors that influence pathogen recognition, uptake, and clearance.