Abstract:

Hemolin is the only member of the immunoglobulin superfamily in invertebrates so far. It plays an important role in Lepidoptera immunity. Based on more than 40 literatures on hemolin, we found that hemolin appears only in Lepidoptera, and exists in the two modes, dissoluble and infusible, which show  different biological functions. Dissoluble hemolin could resist invading pathogens , such as bacterium and virus by some enzymes and proteins, while the infusible hemolin may have catabatic effect on cell-cell adhesion and virus or bacterium invading cell.

Key words: Insect, Lepidoptera, hemolin, immunoglobulin, structure, function