An updated proteomic analysis of Drosophila hemolymph after bacterial infection

Using an in-depth Mass Spectrometry based proteomics approach, we provide a comprehensivecharacterization of the hemolymphatic proteome of adult flies upon bacterial infection. We detected and quantified changes in abundance of several known immune regulators and effectors, including multiple antimicrobial peptides, peptidoglycan-binding proteins and serine proteases. Comparison to previously published transcriptomic analyses reveals a partial overlap with our dataset, indicating that many proteins released into the hemolymph upon infection may not be regulated at the transcript level. Among them, we identify a set of muscle-derived proteins released into the hemolymph upon infection. Finally, our analysis reveals that infection induces major changes in the abundance of proteins associated with mitochondrial respiration. This study uncovers a large number of previously undescribed proteins potentially involved in the immune response.