Cattenoz, P.B. et al. EMBO J. e104486 (2020)

Three types of hemocytes—the mediators of innate immunity in invertebrates—have been identified in Drosophila: plasmatocytes, which are responsible for the main functions of the hemocytes, crystal cells accounting for <5% of hemocytes, and lamellocytes, which only appear upon challenge.

A new study published in EMBO Journal provides further insights into the temporal specificity and heterogeneity of these cells. Bulk RNA sequencing of hemocytes from embryos and larvae revealed the transcriptional changes occurring during development, and single-cell RNA sequencing identified 14 hemocyte clusters present in larvae. The atlas, which also describes the transcriptional changes occurring in the hemocyte clusters upon wasp infestation, is an important resource to understand the role of these immune cells in physiological and pathological conditions.