The Evolution of Immune Cells: Hematopoiesis in Insects, Crustaceans & Mollusks

Описание: Before bone marrow, before lymph nodes — how did animals build an immune system?

In this opening lecture of Macroevolutionary Dynamics of Metazoan Immunity, we examine the anatomical and cellular foundations of invertebrate immune surveillance, focusing on pancrustacean and molluscan models.

Rather than beginning with vertebrate adaptive immunity, we step backward in evolutionary time to investigate mesodermal hematopoiesis, hemocyte differentiation, and the architectural logic of immune tissues in organisms that lack a myeloid–lymphoid dichotomy.

We explore:

• The mesodermal origins of hemocytes and the structure of the hemocoel
• Insect hematopoiesis in the Drosophila lymph gland
• Functional hemocyte lineages (plasmatocytes, crystal cells, lamellocytes)
• Comparative lepidopteran immune cell diversity
• Lineage plasticity and transdifferentiation under immune stress
• Decapod crustacean hematopoietic tissues and astakine signaling
• The gastropod Amoebocyte-Producing Organ (APO) and pathogen-driven mitosis
• Cellular effector mechanisms: phagocytosis, respiratory burst, encapsulation, melanization
• The prophenoloxidase cascade as a conserved immune amplifier
• ETosis (extracellular trap formation) as an ancient antimicrobial strategy
• The evolutionary implications of stem cell plasticity in invertebrate immune systems

This lecture integrates developmental biology, comparative anatomy, cellular immunology, and macroevolutionary theory to frame invertebrate immunity not as a primitive precursor to vertebrate systems — but as a sophisticated, dynamic network in its own right.

Designed for PhD students, immunologists, evolutionary biologists, and advanced trainees in comparative physiology.

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Tags:
#InvertebrateImmunity #Hematopoiesis #Hemocytes #EvolutionaryImmunology #Macroevolution #ComparativeImmunology #DrosophilaImmunity #CrustaceanImmunity #MolluscanImmunity #Pancrustacea #Phenoloxidase #Encapsulation #Phagocytosis #ETosis #InnateImmunity #Mesoderm #Hemocoel #ImmunologyLecture #PhDLevel #MetazoanEvolution