Interplay between proteostasis pathways and innate immune responses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Area of Science:

• Cellular Biology
• Immunology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Pathogens exploit host protein homeostasis to evade immunity.
• Immune responses create proteostatic stress, necessitating cellular quality control.
• This interplay suggests evolution of surveillance mechanisms linking proteostasis and immunity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of protein homeostasis in innate immunity.
• To highlight proteostasis as an evolutionarily conserved immune surveillance system.
• To explore the integration of cellular stress sensing with host defense.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent studies in *Caenorhabditis elegans*.
• Analysis of proteostasis perturbations across cellular compartments (cytosol, ER, mitochondria, proteasome).
• Examination of stress-response pathways (heat shock, translational regulation, UPRs) and their link to immune signaling.

Main Results:

• Proteostasis disruptions are actively integrated with innate immune signaling.
• Stress-response pathways restore proteome integrity and modulate immune gene expression.
• Multiple cellular compartments' proteostasis is linked to immune responses.

Conclusions:

• Proteostasis serves as a conserved immune surveillance system.
• Cellular stress sensing is directly linked to host defense mechanisms.
• Understanding this link offers insights into stress adaptation, immunity, and organismal health.