Search results for "Prophenoloxidase"
showing 2 items of 12 documents
The presence of conifer resin decreases the use of the immune system in wood ants.
2008
5 pages; International audience; 1. Wood ants ( Formica paralugubris ) incorporate large amounts of solidified conifer resin into their nest, which reduces the density of many bacteria and fungi and protects the ants against some detrimental micro-organisms. By inducing an environment unfavourable to pathogens, the presence of resin may allow workers to reduce the use of their immune system. 2. The present study tested the hypothesis that the presence of resin decreases the immune activity of wood ants. Specifically, three components of the humoral immune defences of workers kept in resin-rich and resin-free experimental nests (antibacterial, lytic, and prophenoloxidase activities) were com…
Immunological Activity of Ascidian Hemocytes
2001
In ascidians, various hemocyte types and their differentiation stages may be responsible for several immune functions. A central role in the immune effector mechanisms can be assigned to PO-containing hemocytes and prophenoloxidase system. Morula cell in Styela plicata and univacuolar refringent granulocyte in Ciona intestinalis, a probable intermediate stages in the differentiation pathway of morula cell, may be cytotoxic cells. They are involved in immune reactions of solitary and colonial ascidians. We have shown that they are provided with a PO-linked spontaneous cytotoxic activity and recognize mammalian erythrocytes or tumor cells markers. The toxic molecules can be radical oxygen int…