Innate Immunity in Asthma

Innate Immunity in Asthma.

It is appreciated that the marked increase in the prevalence of asthma over the past few decades reflects changes in environmental exposures and living conditions associated with modern lifestyles.1 Of particular interest is the documentation of a protective effect of exposures associated with traditional farming, the influence of which has waned with increased urbanization and the advent of me...

Asthma and innate immunity; current perspective.

Innate immunity

From the discovery of antibodies in the late nineteenth century until very recently, the focus of most research in immunology has been the so-called adaptive immune response. Adaptive immune responses are highly specific for a given microorganism and it is the T and B lymphocytes of the adaptive immune response, and the antibodies produced by the B lymphocytes, that are responsible for lasting ...

Mitochondria in innate immunity.

Mitochondria are cellular organelles involved in host-cell metabolic processes and the control of programmed cell death. A direct link between mitochondria and innate immune signalling was first highlighted with the identification of MAVS-a crucial adaptor for RIGI-like receptor signalling-as a mitochondria-anchored protein. Recently, other innate immune molecules, such as NLRX1, TRAF6, NLRP3 a...

Innate Immunity in ALS

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is the most common form of motor neuron disease. It is a debilitating, late onset neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by the progressive death of upper and ┙-motor neurons within the central nervous system (CNS) (Bruijn and Cleveland, 1996). This results in symptoms of muscle weakness and atrophy of skeletal m...