Publications by authors named "Kouki Maki"

In , the final immune deficiency (IMD) pathway-dependent signal is transmitted through proteolytic conversion of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-like transcription factor Relish to the active N-terminal fragment Relish-N. Relish-N is then translocated from the cytosol into the nucleus for the expression of IMD-controlled genes. We previously demonstrated that transglutaminase (TG) suppresses the IMD pathway by polymerizing Relish-N to inhibit its nuclear translocation.

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Transglutaminase (TG) catalyzes protein-protein crosslinking, which has important and diverse roles in vertebrates and invertebrates. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila TG crosslinks drosocrystallin, a peritrophic matrix protein, to form a stable fiber structure on the gut peritrophic matrix. RNA interference (RNAi) of the TG gene was highly lethal in flies and induced apoptosis of gut epithelial cells after oral infection with Pseudomonas entomophila.

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Cross-linking of proteins by mammalian transglutaminases (TGs) plays important roles in physiological phenomena such as blood coagulation and skin formation. We show that Drosophila TG suppressed innate immune signaling in the gut. RNA interference (RNAi) directed against TG reduced the life span of flies reared under conventional nonsterile conditions but not of those raised under germ-free conditions.

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