Deciphering Immunology's Dirty Secret

Deciphering Immunology's Dirty Secret Can innate immune adjuvants save vaccinology? By Kate Travis ARTICLE EXTRAS 1 Why, he wondered, did scientists have to include bits of bacteria or aluminum hydroxide with a vaccine to get an immune response? Janeway hypothesized and later proved that so-called pattern recognition receptors identify invading pathogens and trigger an immediate reaction against the i

Kate Travis

Jan 1, 2007

Can innate immune adjuvants save vaccinology?
By Kate Travis

ARTICLE EXTRAS

1 Why, he wondered, did scientists have to include bits of bacteria or aluminum hydroxide with a vaccine to get an immune response? Janeway hypothesized and later proved that so-called pattern recognition receptors identify invading pathogens and trigger an immediate reaction against the invader. It turns out that this process is responsible for triggering antigen-presenting cells that ultimately result in a pathogen-specific T-cell response.

Indeed, what's old is new again. "We've known for a very long time that the body mounts an intense inflammatory response to microbes," says Bruce Beutler, professor of immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. Scientists even knew about what caused the response: In the 1890s Robert Koch and Richard Pfeiffer identified what they dubbed endotoxin, the complex molecule that coats Gram-negative bacteria. They found that endotoxin -...

Interested in reading more?

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Already a member?

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of