Plasticidad de la respuesta de macrófagos a factores de activaciónPlasticity of macrophage responses to activating factors

Abstract

Immunology became a discipline more than 100 years ago arising from the unmatched contributions of Elie Metchnikoff and Paul Ehrlich, who described phagocytosis processes by macrophages and “microphages”, as well as the sidechain theory of antibody formation and the mechanisms through which antibodies neutralize toxins and induce bacterial lysis (respectively). Currently, innate, and adaptive responses are known to be complementary systems interacting to provide a robust immunity. However, accumulating evidence throughout the years has shed light into the real complexity beyond the interplay of both immunity branches. Indeed, the differences between the roles canonically attributed to each system and the cellular compartments involved have been continuously challenged. One example is the emergence of the “innate immune memory” concept from findings in Bacille Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated individuals in which a level of protection against disparate pathogens was identified. This phenomenon has been studied in vitro in mononuclear phagocytes exposed primarily to a single pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in a regimen of a first stimulus, a period of resting, and a different secondary stimulus. Based on the differential inflammatory output, innate immune memory has been divided into innate immune training and tolerance, the difference being the nature of the secondary response (heightened versus reduced)...