Journal article
On immunological memory.
- Zinkernagel RM Institute of Experimental Immunology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
- 2000-05-04
Published in:
- Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. - 2000
English
Immunological memory may not represent a special characteristic of lymphocytes but simply reflect low-level responses driven by antigen that is re-encountered or persists within the host. T-cell memory is important to control persistent infections within the individual host and cannot be transmitted to offspring because of MHC polymorphism and MHC-restricted T-cell recognition. In contrast, antibody memory is transmissible from mother to offspring and may function essentially to protect offspring during the phase of physiological immuno-incompetence before, at and shortly after birth. This physiological immuno-incompetence is a result of MHC polymorphism and the dangers of the graft-versus-host and host-versus-graft reaction between mother and embryo, which necessitate immunosuppression of the mother and immuno-incompetence of the offspring. One may argue therefore that immunological memory of transmissible immunological experience is the basis on which MHC-restricted T-cell recognition could develop or coevolve.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1098/rstb.2000.0576
- PMID 10794057
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/3879
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