Federica Sandrelli - Immunity in Insects

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Immunity in Insectsas a field of research has been in constant expansion over the past 30 years. Indeed, a Pubmed search using insect immunity as a keyword shows that the total number of published papers on this topic almost tripling every decade. The identification of the first antimicrobial peptide Cecropin from the lepidopteranHyalophora cecropiaby Boman in 1981 is considered the seminal work, which paved the way for this research field. The later clarification of immune response regulation and activation of innate immunity in the model organismDrosophila melanogasterrepresents a fundamental milestone that led Jules Hoffmann to be awarded the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2011. Since then the immune response in insects has become a multidisciplinary field, and currently the study of hostpathogen relationships in these animals appears fundamental in elucidating evolutionary and ecological traits, in controlling both beneficial and agriculture-pest insects, as well as in the study of insect vectors of tropical diseases. Although insects lack an adaptive immune response, their innate immune response displays remarkable homologies with that of vertebrates. Additionally, insects often have short life cycles and produce large numbers of individuals each generation. For these reasons, in recent years several dipteran and lepidopteran species have been recognized as cost-effective model organisms to study human microbial infections, implementing the 3R principle of animal use. Insects also represent a significant source of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), molecules nowadays analyzed as potential alternatives to conventional antibiotics to treat infections, and also for their immunomodulatory function and anticancer activity.

This book aims at providing a methodological guide for scientists interested in different aspects of insect immunity. In the first part, Chaptersprovides protocols to monitor the effect of septic infections with human pathogens usingB. morias a model.