How do invertebrates generate a highly specific innate immune response?

Genome-wide identification and transcript profile of the whole cathepsin superfamily in the intertidal copepod Tigriopus japonicus

“…Copepod defense system would be capable to memorize consecutive exposures to antigenically similar parasites (tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus) (Kurtz and Franz, 2003). There have been controversial statements on case-study-based adaptive immunity of invertebrates including copepods (Kurtz, 2005;Kurtz and Armitage, 2006;Hauton and Smith, 2007), but these reports suggest that copepods have complex innate immunity and responsive mechanisms (Schulenburg et al, 2007). Thus, we suggest that the LPS-induced increase of several cathepsins in T. japonicus could be a type of innate immune response, as LPS is purified lipoglycans and endotoxins of Gramnegative bacteria.…”

Deciphering the genomic toolkit underlying animal-bacteria interactions – insights through the demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica

“…How invertebrates make the critical distinction between friend and foe through the germlineencoded receptors of the innate immunity, in the absence of the fine-tuned specificity associated with the vertebrate adaptive immunity, is still very poorly understood. However, studies demonstrating phenomenological evidence for immune memory in invertebrates, as well as the capacity to generate tremendous PRR diversity at the genomic level or through alternative splicing, are challenging the long-held paradigm that innate immunity is non-specific and lacks memory (Schulenburg, et al 2007;Netea, et al 2011;Ziauddin and Schneider 2012;Criscitiello and de Figueiredo 2013). Hence it has been hypothesised that innate immune complexity, achieved through the diversification and expansion of the PRR complements, could provide invertebrates with the capacity to recognise specific ligands in order to manage their symbiotic bacterial communities.…”

“…In the absence of a classical adaptive immunity, it has been proposed that highly specific immune responses could be generated in invertebrate animals through synergistic interactions among components of the innate immune system (Schulenburg, et al 2007). The multiplicity of the invertebrate NLRs and of their putative downstream signalling components, coupled with the potential for complex protein-protein interactions via the NACHT and death-fold domains, creates the potential for complex synergistic interactions to occur at the receptor, signalling and effector levels of the NLR immune response (Schulenburg, et al 2007).…”

“…The multiplicity of the invertebrate NLRs and of their putative downstream signalling components, coupled with the potential for complex protein-protein interactions via the NACHT and death-fold domains, creates the potential for complex synergistic interactions to occur at the receptor, signalling and effector levels of the NLR immune response (Schulenburg, et al 2007). This potential raises the possibility that invertebrate NLRs, although superficially similar at a structural level to vertebrate NLRs, might have the capacity for generating an innate immune response of greater specialization and diversity than vertebrate NLRs.…”

Arche de Noé immunologique

“…Priming et réponse secondaire Le dogme de l'absence de mémoire et de spécificité de l'immunité innée chez les invertébrés, récemment remis en question par une série de résul-tats originaux [25], mérite d'être également revisité chez ces mollusques. Plusieurs études réalisées par le passé chez B. glabrata indiquent qu'un phénomène de « priming » (sensibilisation) immunitaire pourrait exister.…”