Toll訊號傳遞路徑在果蠅的胚胎背腹的極性發育以及成蟲的先天性免疫反應中都扮演著極為重要的角色。經由細胞質內Spatzle的作用活化，Toll會與DmMyD88和Tube器蛋白結合作用，並與Pelle蛋白質交互作用，活化Pelle酵素活性，進一步促使抑制性蛋白質Cactus的分解，使得轉錄因子Dorsal/Dif得以進入細胞核內誘發基因的作用。實驗室先前的研究裡已經證實weckle (wek) 蛋白質是屬於一個新的背部群基因，其蛋白質可能是屬於鋅指(zinc finger)的一種轉錄因子。
在這篇文章中，我們已經在實驗室裡分離到一個全新的wek等位基因 (allele)，並且證實其上位作用(epistasis)是在cactus的上游，而在Toll的下游。同時Wek蛋白質作用於胚胎細胞的細胞膜上，不受Toll訊號傳遞的影響。此外，Wek蛋白質會形成同質二元體，並且以此形式和Toll產生交互作用。所以，Wek與DmMyd88產生交互結合作用後，引導其至細胞膜上，鍵結作用形成Toll/Wek/DmMyD88/Tube/Pelle的多重複合體。再者我們發現，Wek蛋白質的鋅指在生物體外的實驗中會與雙股脫氧核醣核酸有直接的交互作用。但是不同於DmMyD88/tube/pelle/cactus基因卡匣( gene cassette)，wek並無參與在對抗格蘭氏陽性細菌與真菌的免疫反應過程裡。因此，wek在果蠅胚胎的背腹極性發育過程以及果蠅的免疫反應中，可能存在著不同的功能。

The Drosophila Toll pathway takes part in both establishment of the embryonic dorsoventral axis and induction of the innate immune response in adults. Upon activation by the cytokine Spätzle, Toll interacts with the adaptor proteins DmMyD88 and Tube and the kinase Pelle and triggers degradation of the inhibitor Cactus, thus allowing the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor Dorsal/Dif. weckle (wek) was previously identified as a new dorsal group gene that encodes a putative zinc finger transcription factor.
Here, we isolated new wek alleles and demonstrated that cactus is epistatic to wek, which in turn is epistatic to Toll. Consistent with this, Wek localizes to the plasma membrane of embryos, independently of Toll signaling. Wek homodimerizes and associates with Toll. Moreover, Wek binds to and localizes DmMyD88 to the plasma membrane. Thus, Wek associates with large Toll/Wek/DmMyD88/Tube/Pelle multi-complex. Furthermore, the zinc finger of Wek can bind directly to dsDNA in vitro. Remarkably, unlike the DmMyD88/tube/pelle/cactus gene cassette of the Toll pathway, wek plays a negligible role in the immune defense against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. We suggest that wek may have different roles in dorsal-ventral axis formation and immune response.

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