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Innate Immune Defence (innate + immune_defence)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Amoebal pathogens as emerging causal agents of pneumonia

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 3 2010
Frédéric Lamoth
Abstract Despite using modern microbiological diagnostic approaches, the aetiological agents of pneumonia remain unidentified in about 50% of cases. Some bacteria that grow poorly or not at all in axenic media used in routine clinical bacteriology laboratory but which can develop inside amoebae may be the agents of these lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of unexplained aetiology. Such amoebae-resisting bacteria, which coevolved with amoebae to resist their microbicidal machinery, may have developed virulence traits that help them survive within human macrophages, i.e. the first line of innate immune defence in the lung. We review here the current evidence for the emerging pathogenic role of various amoebae-resisting microorganisms as agents of RTIs in humans. Specifically, we discuss the emerging pathogenic roles of Legionella -like amoebal pathogens, novel Chlamydiae (Parachlamydia acanthamoebae, Simkania negevensis), waterborne mycobacteria and Bradyrhizobiaceae (Bosea and Afipia spp.). [source]

QTL for traits related to humoral immune response estimated from data of a porcine F2 resource population

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 3 2009
K. Wimmers
Summary This study aimed to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for traits related to humoral innate immune defence. Therefore, haemolytic complement activity in the alternative and the classical pathway, serum concentration of C3c and of haptoglobin (HP) were measured in blood samples obtained from F2 piglets (n = 457) of a porcine F2 resource population before and after Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Aujeszky's disease virus (Suid herpesvirus I, SuHVI) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) vaccination at 6, 14 and 16 weeks of age. Animals were genotyped at 88 autosomal markers. QTL analysis was performed under the line cross and the half sib. Phenotypic data were adjusted for systematic effects by mixed models with and without repeated measures statement. In total, 46 and 21 estimated QTL positions were detected with genome-wide significance at the 0.05 and 0.01 level, respectively. The proximal region of SSC2 (orthologous to HSA11 0,70 Mb), the distal region of SSC4 (HSA1 95,155 Mb), and the intermediate region of SSC16 (HSA5 0,73 Mb and 150,174 Mb) showed a clustering of estimated QTL positions for complement activity based on the different models. A common genetic background, i.e. a single true QTL, might underlie these QTL positions for related traits. In addition, QTL for antibody titres were detected on SSC1, 2, 6 and 7. With regard to number and magnitude of their impact, QTL for humoral innate immune traits behave like those for other quantitative traits. Discovery of such QTL facilitates the identification of candidate genes for disease resistance and immune competence that are applicable in selective breeding and further research towards improving therapeutic and prophylactic measures. [source]

Crystallization of a nonclassical Kazal-type Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda serine protease inhibitor, CrSPI-1, complexed with subtilisin

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION F (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2009
Shenoy Rajesh Tulsidas
Serine proteases play a major role in host,pathogen interactions. The innate immune system is known to respond to invading pathogens in a nonspecific manner. The serine protease cascade is an essential component of the innate immune system of the horseshoe crab. The serine protease inhibitor CrSPI isoform 1 (CrSPI-1), a unique nonclassical Kazal-type inhibitor of molecular weight 9.3,kDa, was identified from the hepatopancreas of the horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda. It potently inhibits subtilisin and constitutes a powerful innate immune defence against invading microbes. Here, the cloning, expression, purification and cocrystallization of CrSPI-1 with subtilisin are reported. The crystals diffracted to 2.6,Å resolution and belonged to space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 73.8, b = 65.0, c = 111.9,Å, , = 95.4°. The Matthews coefficient (VM = 2.64,Å3,Da,1, corresponding to 53% solvent content) and analysis of the preliminary structure solution indicated the presence of one heterotrimer (1:2 ratio of CrSPI-1:subtilisin) and one free subtilisin molecule in the asymmetric unit. [source]

Scavenger receptors: role in innate immunity and microbial pathogenesis

CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 8 2009
Thomas Areschoug
Summary Accumulating evidence shows that many scavenger receptors (SR), including SR-A, MARCO and CD36, represent an important part of the innate immune defence by acting as pattern-recognition receptors, in particular against bacterial pathogens. Several SR are expressed on macrophages and dendritic cells, where they act as phagocytic receptors mediating non-opsonic phagocytosis of pathogenic microbes. Another important function of some SR is to act as co-receptors to Toll-like receptors (TLR), modulating the inflammatory response to TLR agonists. On bacteria, the SR ligands have commonly been reported to be lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid, but recent advances in the field indicate that bacterial surface proteins play a more important role as target molecules for SR than previously thought. Interestingly, recent data show that major pathogens, including Streptococcus pyogenes and the group B streptococcus, have evolved mechanisms to evade SR-mediated recognition. Moreover, intracellular pathogens, such as hepatitis C virus and Plasmodium falciparum, utilize the SR to gain entry into host cells, focusing interest on the importance of SR also in the molecular pathogenesis of infectious diseases. This review highlights the complex interactions between SR and pathogenic microbes, and discusses the role of these interactions in host defence and microbial pathogenesis. [source]