Summary
As indicated in this chapter, the three branches of the INNATE IMMUNE SYSTEM co-operate to protect us against pathogenic micro-organisms and to remove infected, dysregulated, damaged or outdated cells. Phagocytes act by migrating to infected areas and by ingesting and killing micro-organisms. NATURAL KILLER CELLS induce APOPTOSIS in virus-infected or tumour cells. MACROPHAGES remove apoptotic and aged cells. Finally, the COMPLEMENT SYSTEM helps phagocytes to find and ingest micro-organisms but also leads to direct lysis of microbes. Each of these systems is potentially dangerous to the host as well. Therefore, a very tight regulation of their activities exists to protect the host tissue against damage to innocent bystander cells and against excessive and long-lasting activation of these systems. Therapeutic intervention in the case of deficiencies or dysregulation is limited, but the possibilities may increase as we gain more insight into the basic principles.
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Roos, D., Spits, H., Hack, C.E. (2005). Innate immunity — phagocytes, natural killer cells and the complement system. In: Nijkamp, F.P., Parnham, M.J. (eds) Principles of Immunopharmacology. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7643-7408-X_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7643-7408-X_5
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