The affirmative response of the innate immune system to apoptotic cells

Growing evidence exists for a new role for apoptotic cell recognition and clearance in immune homeostasis. Apoptotic cells at all stages, irrespective of membrane integrity, elicit a signature set of signaling events in responding phagocytes, both professional and non-professional. These signaling e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Autoimmunity (Chur, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2007-01, Vol.40 (4), p.274-280
Main Authors: Patel, Vimal A., Longacre-Antoni, Angelika, Cvetanovic, Marija, Lee, Daniel J., Feng, Lanfei, Fan, Hanli, Rauch, Joyce, Ucker, David S., Levine, Jerrold S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
apoptosis
Apoptosis - immunology
Autoimmunity
Humans
inflammation
Innate immunity
Phagocytes - immunology
phagocytosis
Phagocytosis - immunology
signal transduction
Signal Transduction - immunology
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Summary:Growing evidence exists for a new role for apoptotic cell recognition and clearance in immune homeostasis. Apoptotic cells at all stages, irrespective of membrane integrity, elicit a signature set of signaling events in responding phagocytes, both professional and non-professional. These signaling events are initiated by receptor-mediated recognition of apoptotic determinants, independently of species, cell type, or apoptotic stimulus. We propose that the ability of phagocytes to respond to apoptotic targets with a characteristic set of signaling events comprises a second distinct dimension of innate immunity, as opposed to the traditional innate discrimination of self vs. non-self. We further propose that a loss or abnormality of the signaling events elicited by apoptotic cells, as distinct from the actual clearance of those cells, may predispose to autoimmunity.
ISSN:0891-6934
1607-842X
DOI:10.1080/08916930701357463