The selective regulation of immune responses by matrix metalloproteinase MMP14 in Ostrinia furnacalis

作     者：Kangkang Chen Shiqi Lu Jiahui Song Xiaoyi Dou Xiangyi Wei Xinyan Wang Xu Liu Congjing Feng Kangkang Chen;Shiqi Lu;Jiahui Song;Xiaoyi Dou;Xiangyi Wei;Xinyan Wang;Xu Liu;Congjing Feng

作者机构：Department of Plant ProtectionCollege of Plant ProtectionYangzhou UniversityYangzhouJiangsuChina Department of EntomologyUniversity of GeorgiaAthensGAUSA 

出 版 物：《Insect Science》 (昆虫科学（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2023年第30卷第6期

页      面：1622-1636页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Sci-ence Foundation of China(32072417 and 31901876) the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20190900) the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project(2018M642343). 

主　　题：antimicrobial peptide cecropin lysozyme MMP14 phenoloxidase RNAi 

摘      要：Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are crucial for tissue remodeling and immune responses in insects, yet it remains unclear how MMPs affect the various immune processes against pathogenic infections and whether the responses vary among insects. In this study, we used the lepidopteran pest Ostrinia furnacalis larvae to address these questions by examining the changes of immune-related gene expression and antimicrobial activity after the knockdown of MMP14 and bacterial infections. We identified MMP14 in O. furnacalis using the rapid amplification of complementary DNA ends (RACE), and found that it was conserved and belonged to the MMP1 subfamily. Our functional investigations revealed that MMP14 is an infection-responsive gene, and its knockdown reduces phenoloxidase (PO) activity and Cecropin expression, while the expressions of Lysozyme, Attacin, Gloverin, and Moricin are enhanced after MMP14 knockdown. Further PO and lysozyme activity determinations showed consistent results with gene expression of these immune-related genes. Finally, the knockdown of MMP14 decreased larvae survival to bacterial infections. Taken together, our data indicate that MMP14 selectively regulates the immune responses, and is required to defend against bacterial infections in O. furnacalis larvae. Conserved MMPs may serve as a potential target for pest control using a combination of double-stranded RNA and bacterial infection.