Since the first animal antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were discovered in insects, Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a powerful model for their characterization. Drosophila AMPs have been used extensively to monitor the activity of the Toll and Imd NF-κB pathways, but little was known of their precise functions. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the function of Drosophila AMPs not only for antimicrobial defense, but also in the gut, tumor control, and neurology. The integration of these new studies allows a new framework to be drawn that explains how AMPs can contribute simultaneously to microbe killing whilst also regulating important host cellular functions. These functions require that AMPs target not only negatively charged microbes but also aberrant host cells.

中文翻译：

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果蝇抗菌肽在宿主防御及其他方面的功能的新见解。

自从在昆虫中发现第一种动物抗菌肽（AMPs）以来，果蝇已成为其表征的有力模型。果蝇AMP已广泛用于监测Toll和ImdNF-κB通路的活性，但对其确切功能知之甚少。在这篇综述中，我们总结了果蝇AMPs不仅在抗菌防御方面的功能，而且在肠道，肿瘤控制和神经病学方面的最新发现。这些新研究的整合允许绘制一个新的框架，该框架解释了AMPs如何同时促进微生物杀灭并调节重要的宿主细胞功能。这些功能要求AMPs不仅靶向带负电的微生物，而且还靶向异常的宿主细胞。