... FEBS Proteolytic activation and function of the cytokine Spa¨tzle in the innate immune response of a lepidopteran insect, Manduca sexta Chunju An1, Haobo Jiang2 and Michael R. Kanost11 Department ... development and in the antimicrobial immune response in larvae and adults. We have investigated the function of Spa¨tzle in a lepidopteran insect, Manduca sexta, in which hemolymph proteinases activated ... aegypti, An. gambiae, B. mori, M. sexta, Naso-nia vitripennis, and T. castaneum. We could not includeAn. gambiae Spa¨tzle-1 in the analysis, because the Manduca sexta Spa¨tzle C. An et al.150...