Unraveling the protective effect of a Drosophila phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein upon bacterial infection by means of proteomics

This study addresses the biological function of CG18594, a Drosophila melanogaster phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) that we named PEBP1, by combining fly genetics, survival experiments and differential proteomics. We demonstrate that transgenic flies overexpressing PEBP1 are highly protected against bacterial infection due to the release of immunity-related proteins in their hemolymph. Apart from proteins that have been reported earlier to participate in insect immunity, we also identify proteins involved in metabolism and signaling, and, in addition, twelve (hypothetical) proteins with unknown function. This is the first report demonstrating an immune function for a Drosophila PEBP protein.