Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Immune System

Origin and Evolution of the Vertebrate Immune System PDF

Author: L. Du Pasquier

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 3642596746

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The comparative approach to immunology can be traced to the era of Pasteur and Metchnikov in which observations regarding foreign recognition in invertebrates was a factor in the develop ment of the principal concepts that created the foundation of what now is the broad field of immunology. With each major experimental and conceptual breakthrough, the classical, albeit essential, question has been asked "are the immune systems of phylogenetically primitive vertebrates and invertebrates similar to that of mammals?" Somewhat surprisingly for the jawed verte brates, the general answer has been a qualified form of "yes", whereas for agnathans and invertebrate phyla it has been "no" so far. The apparent abruptness in the appearance of the immune system of vertebrates is linked to the introduction of the somatic generation of the diversity of its antigen specific receptors. Therefore the questions regarding the origin and evolution of the specific immune system revolve around this phenomenon. With respect to the origin of the system (aside from the or igin of the rearranging machinery itself, the study of which is still in its infancy) one can ask questions about the cellular and mo lecular contexts in which the mechanism was introduced.

Phylogenetic Perspectives on the Vertebrate Immune System

Phylogenetic Perspectives on the Vertebrate Immune System PDF

Author: Gregory Becker

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1461512913

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This book contains the proceedings of the first meeting on invertebrate immunity ever sponsored as a summer research conference by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The conference was held in Copper Mountain, CO from July 11-16, 1999. It was a an extension of a New York Academy of Sciences meeting entitled "Primordial Immunity: Foundations for the Vertebrate Immune System" held on May 2-5,1993 at the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole, MA. The proceedings of that meeting were published in The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (volume 712). At that meeting all the attendes agreed that this type of conference (a relatively small focused gathering) allowed for participation by investigators at all levels of their careers. We further agreed that we should search for a forum that would allow this meeting to continue. The FASEB Summer Research Conference was an excellent vehicle for this type of meeting. Furthermore, this year's participants decided to continue this meeting as a regularly scheduled FASEB sponsored event. This was a unique conference in the sense that it focused upon mechanisms of development and defense in protostome and deuterostome invertebrates and lower vertebrates. There was a strong emphasis on evolutionary cell biology, phylogenetic inferences and the evolution of recognition and regulatory systems.

The Primordial VRM System and the Evolution of Vertebrate Immunity

The Primordial VRM System and the Evolution of Vertebrate Immunity PDF

Author: John Stewart

Publisher: R. G. Landes

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13:

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This book discusses the evolutionary origin of immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors. The complex interactions between B and T cells in response to external antigens are the major focus of contemporary immunology. This book argues that these interactions may be relatively late evolutionary developments, due to the redeployment of a system invented for other reasons. In other words immunoglobulins did not arise in evolution to fight infection. The author theorizes that the system of variable region moleculars (VRM) arose at the time of the first vertebrates by an endogenous, self-organizing process. This primordial VRM system instituted a molecular ecology, a function so vital that from then on no vertebrate has been able to do without it.