Immune response evolution

With all these caveats, in our personal opinion, most of the current candidates could never be more than a component in a schistosome vaccine because of the intrinsic limitations in the immune responses they provoke. We believe that evolution has equipped schistosomes to deal with the potential threat posed by ADCC in the skin, and we need to broaden our search to other targets, and/or mechanisms of immune attack. 

Manser, T. Gefter, M.L. (1986). The molecular evolution of the immune response idiotype-specific suppression indicates that B cells express germ-line-encoded V genes prior to antigenic stimulation. Eur. J. Immunol. 16, 1439-1444. 

Wysocki, L., Manser, T., Gefter, M.L. (1986). Somatic evolution of variable region structures during an immune response. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83,1847-1851. 

The function of the innate immune system is thought to be the recognition of invading pathogens, the activation of inflammation to control the pathogen, and the subsequent activation of the acquired immune response. It constitutes the most archaic part of our immune defences and has survived through years of evolution. 

Allergenic effects. A number of secondary metabolites influence the immune system of animals, such as coumarins, furanocoumarins, hypericin, and helenalin. Common to these compounds is a strong allergenic effect on those parts of the skin or mucosa that have come into contact with the compounds (4,17,312). Activation or repression of the immune response is certainly a target that was selected during evolution as an antiherbivore strategy. The function of alkaloids in this context is hardly known. 

To respond effectively to a vast array of pathogens, the immune system must be tremendously adaptable. Adaptation by the immune system follows the principles of evolution an enormously diverse set of potentially useful proteins is generated these proteins are then subjected to intense selection so that only cells that express useful proteins flourish and continue development, until an effective immune response to a specific invader is generated. 

Cytokines play an important role in the control of switching of antibody isotypes in humans away from IgM during the evolution of the immune response. Cytokines which play a role in this process may be classified as follows. 

He was, of course, unaware that the substance was the glycoproteins on the surface of the virus, which excited the attention of the immune system and induced the production of antibodies to the vims. As more has been learnt about the surface stmcture of vimses, and how this elicits an immune response, the design of synthetic vaccines that are both safer and more effective has become possible. The evolution of the various vaccines against poliomyelitis provides a good example of these developments. 

If cytokines are themselves instrumental in regulating the development of differentiated Th-cell populations, then an intriguing question arises as to the provenance of these cytokines before a mature immune response has evolved. In the case of Thl-cell development then presumably the stimulation by dendritic cell- and/or macrophage-derived IL-12 of IFN-y production by NK cells and the concerted action of IL-12 and IFN-yon Thl-cell precursors may provide one answer. One suggestion regarding the evolution of Th2-cell... 

Common Structures - Both the antibodies of the humoral response and the molecules involved in the cellular response contain elements of common structure. The similarity is even greater than Figure 7.35 suggests. The domains in these molecules are built on a common motif, called the immunoglobulin fold, in which two antiparallel sheets lie face to face (Figure 7.36). This structure probably represents the primitive structural element in the evolution of the immune response. The immunoglobulin fold is also found in a number of other proteins. 

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