Abstract
In the past decade, Caenorhabditis elegans has been used to dissect several genetic pathways involved in immunity; however, little is known about transcription factors that regulate the expression of immune effectors. C. elegans does not appear to have a functional homolog of the key immune transcription factor NF-κB, Here we show that that the intestinal GATA transcription factor ELT-2 is required for both immunity to Salmonella enterica and expression of a C-type lectin gene, dec-67, which is expressed in the intestinal cells and is a good marker of S. enterica infection. We also found that ELT-2 is required for immunity to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Lack of immune inhibition by DAF-2, which negatively regulates the FOXO transcription factor DAF-16, rescues the hypersusceptibility to pathogens phenotype of elt-2(RNAi) animals. Our results indicate that ELT-2 is part of a multi-pathogen defense pathway that regulates innate immunity independently of the DAF-2/DAF-16 signaling pathway.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e77 |
| Journal | PloS one |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 20 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- General