Innate Immunity Plays a Key Role in Leishmania Infection: Implications for Vaccine Design

Neutrophils are part of the first line of immune response and are essential for resistance against a variety of pathogens. They professionally mediate direct killing of pathogens, recruit other phagocytes by specific chemokines, produce cytokines and interact with different immune cells to shape the adaptive response. Leishmania as an obligatory intracellular parasite has evolved to benefit this early innate response to find its way into macrophages, the final host cells. Therefore it is important to reconsider the role of neutrophils for further improvement of the current vaccine status.