Research project The coagulation of insect hemolymph - wound healing and immunity

We study the coagulation of hemolymph as part of wound healing and innate immunity.

A hemolymph clot form after bleeding hemolymph from a larvae (left). Middle and right: the clot (stained in red) captures bacteria (green). Photo: Ulrich Theopold/Stockholm University

Arthropods with their open circulatory systems seal wounds and keep bacteria and parasites from entering the hemocoel using efficient clotting systems. We have established a number of methods to study this reaction in Drosophila melanogaster. We could show that during Drosophila clotting, extracellular matrices are formed, which immobilize bacteria and prevent their dissemination and the entry of insect-specific nematodes into the hemocoel (collaboration with the group of Prof Pavel Hyrsl, Brno, Czech Rep). Our results lead to a more complete picture of the function and evolution of innate immunity.

Publications

Is the surface of endoparasitic wasp eggs and larvae covered by a limited coagulation reaction?

Kinuthia, W., Li, D., Schmidt, O. and Theopold, U. J. Insect Physiol. 45, 501-506 (1999)

Animal and plant members of a gene family with similarity to alkaloid synthesizing enzymes.

Fabbri, M., Delp, G., Schmidt, O. and Theopold, U. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com. 271, 191-196 (2000)

Changes in glycosylation during Drosophila development. The influence of ecdysone on hemomucin

isoforms. Theopold, U., Dorian, C. and Schmidt, O.: Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 31, 189-197 (2001)

Insect hemolymph clotting: evidence for interaction between the coagulation system and the

prophenoloxidase activating cascade. Li, D., Scherfer, C., Korayem, A.M., Zhao, Z., Schmidt, O. and Theopold, U:Ins.Biochem.Mol.Biol 32, 919-928 (2002)

The coagulation of insect hemolymph.

Theopold, U., Li, D., Fabbri, M., Scherfer, C. and Schmidt, O. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 59, 363-372 (2002) review.

Isolation and characterization of hemolymph clotting factors in Drosophila melanogaster by a novel

pull-out assay. Scherfer, C., Karlsson, C., Loseva, O., Bidla, G., Goto, A., Havemann, J., S. Dushay, M.S., and Theopold, U. Curr. Biol. 14, 625-629 (2004)

The Drosophila immune proteome.

Engström Y., Loseva, O. and Theopold, U. Trends Biotech. 22, 600-605 (2004) review

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Full list of publications