Zeitschrift für Immunbiologie

The Broad Biological Significance of Eicosanoids in Invertebrates

Abstract

David Stanley and Yonggyun Kim*

We present a brief sketch of the discovery of prostaglandins and other eicosanoids in human and veterinary biomedicine, and then comment on their significance in invertebrates, all reviewed in detail elsewhere. Here we bring out a few points. One, PG biosynthesis in insects follows a mechanism different from mammals. Two, insect systems are amenable to functional studies of specific genes operating in eicosanoid systems via RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9, which has accelerated understanding of genes involved in PG synthesis and in receptor-mediated actions. We suggest research into some model insect systems, particularly Drosophila melanogaster and the moth Spodoptera exigua, may lead to broadly useful insights into PG actions.