Ebook: Innate Immunity of Plants, Animals, and Humans

All living organisms are in a constant battle against their environment. Since uncontained microorganisms would simply overgrow all higher animals, the evolution of multicellular organisms required adequate and efficient defense mechanisms to protect their own integrity and to ensure their own survival. These defense mechanisms, encompassing receptor proteins that sense the presence of pathogens and effector molecules that are involved in controlling them, are the elemental parts of the innate immune system.

For many species, the innate immune system is the sole active defense system. Long thought to be an unspecific immune response, the discovery of the Toll-like receptors and their ligands finally revealed just how specific the innate immune response actually is.

This book wants to give an overview of our current knowledge about the innate immune system of plants, animals and humans. It not only covers the innate immune mechanisms and responses of so diverse organisms such as plants, Cnidaria, Drosophila, urochordates and zebrafish, but also the major receptor systems in mammalians and humans as well as the central defense mechanisms, antimicrobial peptides and the complement system.

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All living organisms are in a constant battle against their environment. Since uncontained microorganisms would simply overgrow all higher animals, the evolution of multicellular organisms required adequate and efficient defense mechanisms to protect their own integrity and to ensure their own survival. These defense mechanisms, encompassing receptor proteins that sense the presence of pathogens and effector molecules that are involved in controlling them, are the elemental parts of the innate immune system.

For many species, the innate immune system is the sole active defense system. Long thought to be an unspecific immune response, the discovery of the Toll-like receptors and their ligands finally revealed just how specific the innate immune response actually is.

This book wants to give an overview of our current knowledge about the innate immune system of plants, animals and humans. It not only covers the innate immune mechanisms and responses of so diverse organisms such as plants, Cnidaria, Drosophila, urochordates and zebrafish, but also the major receptor systems in mammalians and humans as well as the central defense mechanisms, antimicrobial peptides and the complement system.

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All living organisms are in a constant battle against their environment. Since uncontained microorganisms would simply overgrow all higher animals, the evolution of multicellular organisms required adequate and efficient defense mechanisms to protect their own integrity and to ensure their own survival. These defense mechanisms, encompassing receptor proteins that sense the presence of pathogens and effector molecules that are involved in controlling them, are the elemental parts of the innate immune system.

For many species, the innate immune system is the sole active defense system. Long thought to be an unspecific immune response, the discovery of the Toll-like receptors and their ligands finally revealed just how specific the innate immune response actually is.

This book wants to give an overview of our current knowledge about the innate immune system of plants, animals and humans. It not only covers the innate immune mechanisms and responses of so diverse organisms such as plants, Cnidaria, Drosophila, urochordates and zebrafish, but also the major receptor systems in mammalians and humans as well as the central defense mechanisms, antimicrobial peptides and the complement system.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Evolution of Resistance Genes in Plants....Pages 1-25
The Path Less Explored: Innate Immune Reactions in Cnidarians....Pages 27-42
Bug Versus Bug: Humoral Immune Responses in Drosophila melanogaster ....Pages 43-72
Cellular Immune Responses in Drosophila melanogaster ....Pages 73-91
Immune Reactions in the Vertebrates' Closest Relatives, the Urochordates....Pages 99-111
Innate Immune System of the Zebrafish, Danio rerio ....Pages 113-133
Toll-Like Receptors in the Mammalian Innate Immune System....Pages 135-167
NLRs: a Cytosolic Armory of Microbial Sensors Linked to Human Diseases....Pages 169-185
Antimicrobial Peptides as First-Line Effector Molecules of the Human Innate Immune System....Pages 187-218
The Complement System in Innate Immunity....Pages 219-236
Back Matter....Pages 237-241

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All living organisms are in a constant battle against their environment. Since uncontained microorganisms would simply overgrow all higher animals, the evolution of multicellular organisms required adequate and efficient defense mechanisms to protect their own integrity and to ensure their own survival. These defense mechanisms, encompassing receptor proteins that sense the presence of pathogens and effector molecules that are involved in controlling them, are the elemental parts of the innate immune system.

For many species, the innate immune system is the sole active defense system. Long thought to be an unspecific immune response, the discovery of the Toll-like receptors and their ligands finally revealed just how specific the innate immune response actually is.

This book wants to give an overview of our current knowledge about the innate immune system of plants, animals and humans. It not only covers the innate immune mechanisms and responses of so diverse organisms such as plants, Cnidaria, Drosophila, urochordates and zebrafish, but also the major receptor systems in mammalians and humans as well as the central defense mechanisms, antimicrobial peptides and the complement system.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Evolution of Resistance Genes in Plants....Pages 1-25
The Path Less Explored: Innate Immune Reactions in Cnidarians....Pages 27-42
Bug Versus Bug: Humoral Immune Responses in Drosophila melanogaster ....Pages 43-72
Cellular Immune Responses in Drosophila melanogaster ....Pages 73-91
Immune Reactions in the Vertebrates' Closest Relatives, the Urochordates....Pages 99-111
Innate Immune System of the Zebrafish, Danio rerio ....Pages 113-133
Toll-Like Receptors in the Mammalian Innate Immune System....Pages 135-167
NLRs: a Cytosolic Armory of Microbial Sensors Linked to Human Diseases....Pages 169-185
Antimicrobial Peptides as First-Line Effector Molecules of the Human Innate Immune System....Pages 187-218
The Complement System in Innate Immunity....Pages 219-236
Back Matter....Pages 237-241
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