Invertebrate Cytokines and the Phylogeny of Immunity: Facts and Paradoxes (Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology Book 34)

Based on the assumption that invertebrates as well as vertebrates possess factors regulating hematopoiesis, response to infection or wounding, studies dealing with the evolution of immunity have focused on the isolation and characterization of putative cytokine-related molecules from invertebrates. Until recently, most of our knowledge of cytokine- and cytokine receptor-like molecules in invertebrates has relied on functional assays and similarities at the physicochemical level. As such, a phylogenetic relationship between invertebrate cytokine-like molecules and invertebrate counterparts could not be convincingly demonstrated. In the present book, recent studies demonstrating cytokine-like activities and related signaling pathways in invertebrates are critically reviewed, focusing on findings from molecular biology and taking advantage of the completion of the genome from the fly Drosophila and the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Front Matter....Pages I-XI Invertebrate Humoral Factors: Cytokines as Mediators of Cell Survival....Pages 1-25 Cytokines in Drosophila Hematopoiesis and Cellular Immunity....Pages 27-46 Analogies Between Drosophila and Mammalian TRAF Pathways....Pages 47-72 Regulation of BMP and Activin Signaling in Drosophila ....Pages 73-101 The Chemokine Networks in Sponges: Potential Roles in Morphogenesis, Immunity and Stem Cell Formation....Pages 103-143 Functional Convergence of Invertebrate and Vertebrate Cytokine-Like Molecules Based on a Similar Lectin-Like Activity....Pages 145-163 Tunicate Cytokine-like Molecules and Their Involvement in Host Defense Responses....Pages 165-182 Back Matter....Pages 183-184