Generating Innate Immune Diversity to Recognize Newly Emerging Pathogens

。概述：出现新的和耐药病原体是一个现实。大多数这些病原体含有厚厚的碳水化合物外壳，很少被我们的经典抗体（例如IgG）识别。然而，先天免疫集合素是抗碳水化合物抗体样分子，并且很容易识别一系列微生物。我们将确定组织炎症是否会诱导肺表面活性蛋白A和D （SP-A, SP-D）等集合蛋白的突变，从而使突变蛋白能够识别和中和新出现的病原体。这种机制可能会给宿主动物和人类带来进化优势。

. Overview: Emergence of new and drug-resistant pathogens is a reality. Most of these pathogens contain thick carbohydrate coats that are rarely recognized by our classical antibodies (e.g., IgG). However, innate immune collectins are anti-carbohydrate antibody-like molecules, and readily recognize a range of microbes. We will determine whether tissue inflammation induces mutation in collectins such as lung surfactant proteins A and D (SP-A, SP-D), so that the mutant proteins can recognize and neutralize newly emerging pathogens. This mechanism could give an evolutionary advantage to the host animals and humans.