Regulation of the insect immune response: the effect of hemolin on cellular immune mechanisms

Hemolin is a bacteria-inducible protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily identified in the silk moth Hyalophora cecropia. The role of this protein, in hemocyte aggregation and phagocytosis, was studied in vitro. Hemocyte aggregation, stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), was prevented by hemolin in a dose-dependent fashion, but hemolin did not disrupt aggregates once they had been formed. Furthermore, hemolin was able to stimulate phagocytic activity in both hemocytes and hemocytic mbn-2 cells and this activity was enhanced by LPS. The enhanced phagocytosis produced by a combination of hemolin and LPS was prevented by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors staurosporine and H-7, and PKC activity in hemocyte crude extracts was enhanced by hemolin and LPS, with the highest activity observed in the presence of both. Hemolin affected tyrosine phosphorylation of hemocyte proteins, enhancing the phosphorylation of two proteins of 20 and 30 kDa and preventing tyrosine phosphorylation of two proteins of 35 and 40 kDa. These results suggest that hemolin is involved in the regulation of the cellular immune responses via a pathway that includes PKC activation and protein tyrosine phosphorylation.