BARTL, S.: Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) Genes Isolated from Cartilaginous Fishes Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) is a nuclear enzyme that adds nontemplated nucleotides to free 3’-hydroxyl ends of DNA fragments. In mammals, the only documented function for TdT is the addition of nucleotides at gene element (V, D, and J) junctions during immunoglobulin (Ig) and […]

MARCHALONIS, JJ*; SCHLUTER, SF: Rapid Evolutionary Emergence of the Combinatorial Recognition Repertoire Although the capacity of cells to respond to environmental challenges such as oxidative damage are ancient evolutionary developments that have been carried through to modern higher vertebrates as “innate” immunity, the characteristic immune response of vertebrates is a relatively recent evolutionary development that […]

YOSHINO, T.P.*; HUMPHRIES, J.E.; COPELAND, C.A.: Putative Signal Transduction Pathway Regulating Molluscan Hemocyte Behavior: Studies on In Vitro Cell Spreading and Phagocytosis Encapsulation responses by hemocytes of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata represent the primary effector mechanism against larval stages of the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Cellular adhesion and spreading are critical components of this […]

LITMAN, G.W.: Novel Immune-Type Receptor Genes and the Origins of Adaptive and Innate Immune Recognition Prototypic forms of novel immune-type receptors (NITRs) encode a variable (V) region, a unique V/C2 domain, a transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic tail containing immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motifs (ITIMs). NITRs exhibit properties of adaptive and innate immune receptors that encode […]

LEHRER, R.I.*; TINCU, J.A.; TAYLOR, S.W.; MENZEL, L.P.; ORLOV, D.S.; WARING, A.J.: Natural peptide antibiotics from tunicates: Structures, functions, and potential uses. Tunicates rely on hemocyte-mediated innate immunity for protection against microbial and eukaroytic invaders. The hemocytes of Styela clava, a solitary ascidian, include granular, paucigranular and agranular cell types that act as phagocytes, cytotoxic […]

VASTA, G.R.*; AHMED, H.; QUESENBERRY, M.S.; ODOM, E.; O’LEARY, N.: Lectins in Protochordates and Teleost Fish: Structure-Function Relationships in Innate Immunity. The evolutionary position occupied by the protochordates, bridging invertebrates and vertebrates, suggests that these organisms may express extant examples of the most advanced defense mechanisms that preceded the advent of immunoglobulins. A diverse lectin […]

BAYNE, C.J.: Immuno-competence before the Paleozoic: how distinctive? In February 2002, a Keystone Symposium will be addressed by an eminent immunologist on the topic: Is adaptive immunity absolutely dependent on innate immunity? This reflects the phenomenal recent growth in appreciation for the innate arms of immune systems, and the realization that adaptive (lymphoid) immunity is […]

COOPER, E L: Comparative Immunology Comparative immunology, derived from zoology and immunology, examines immune systems during evolution. Invertebrate immunology, a branch begins analyses even with protozoans, capable of more phagocytosis! Now we know that they possess molecules with conserved sequences found in multicellular species (lysins in amoebas and interleukins in ciliates). Phagocytosis in invertebrates that […]

WEISSMAN, Irving L.: Biology, transplantation, and evolution of stem cells Prospective hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) isolation from mouse and man reveals increased information about their characteristics upon transplantation. HSC alone can quantitatively and rapidly reconstitute the hematolymphoid system of syngeneic and allogeneic hosts, the latter without graft vs. host disease caused by contaminating T cells […]

NORTHCUTT,, R.G.: What Do We Want to Know About Vertebrate Brain Evolution? Four major questions can be asked about how vertebrate brains evolve: 1) What major changes have occurred in neural organization and function? 2) When did these changes occur? 3) By what mechanisms did these changes occur? 4) Why did these changes occur? Comparative […]