RNA Interference Directs Innate Immunity Against Viruses in Adult Drosophila

Overview

Journal Science

Specialty Science

Date 2006 Mar 25

PMID 16556799

Citations 361

Authors

Xiao-Hong Wang

Roghiyh Aliyari

Wan-Xiang Li

Hong-Wei Li

Kevin Kim

Richard Carthew

Peter Atkinson

Shou-Wei Ding

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Innate immunity against bacterial and fungal pathogens is mediated by Toll and immune deficiency (Imd) pathways, but little is known about the antiviral response in Drosophila. Here, we demonstrate that an RNA interference pathway protects adult flies from infection by two evolutionarily diverse viruses. Our work also describes a molecular framework for the viral immunity, in which viral double-stranded RNA produced during infection acts as the pathogen trigger whereas Drosophila Dicer-2 and Argonaute-2 act as host sensor and effector, respectively. These findings establish a Drosophila model for studying the innate immunity against viruses in animals.

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