A. C. FARALDO1, A. SÁ-NUNES2, L. H. FACCIOLI2, E. A. DEL BEL3, E. LELLO4
BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.2, pp. 205-211, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.205
Abstract Although insects lack the adaptive immune response of the mammalians, they manifest effective innate immune responses, which include both cellular and humoral components. Cellular responses are
mediated by hemocytes, and humoral responses include the activation of proteolytic cascades that initiate
many events, including NO production. In mammals, nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) are also present in the
endothelium, the brain, the adrenal glands, and the platelets. Studies on the distribution of NO-producing
systems in invertebrates have revealed functional similarities between NOS in this group and vertebrates. We
attempted to localize NOS activity in tissues of naïve More >