The Drosophila IMD pathway in the activation of the humoral immune response

Abstract

The IMD pathway signaling plays a pivotal role in the Drosophila defense against bacteria. During the last two decades, significant progress has been made in identifying the components and deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying this pathway, including the means of bacterial sensing and signal transduction. While these findings have contributed to the understanding of the immune signaling in insects, they have also provided new insights in studying the mammalian NF-kappaB signaling pathways. Here, we summarize the current view of the IMD pathway focusing on how it regulates the humoral immune response of Drosophila.