Abstract
In the second half of the 19th century, Eli Metchnikoff discovered that bacteria can be ingested (phagocytosed) by LEUKOCYTES present in the blood of a variety of different animals. At about the same time, Paul Ehrlich found that certain agents dissolved in blood had bactericidal potential. The scientific discussion on the importance of cellular versus humoral factors in our defense against bacteria that followed came to an end when it was recognized that both components enforce each other’s effect within the context of the IMMUNE SYSTEM. In 1908, both scientists shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. Further investigations on the nature and the working mechanism of the cells and the proteins that constitute our immunological defense system showed that each of these components is made up of several different constituents. In its turn, this led to the insight that a functional distinction exists between the adaptive and the innate branch of the IMMUNE SYSTEM.
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van den Berg, T.K., Spits, H., Wouters, D. (2011). A6 Innate immunity – Phagocytes, natural killer cells and the complement system. In: Nijkamp, F., Parnham, M. (eds) Principles of Immunopharmacology. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0136-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0136-8_6
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