The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinters, distinguishing them from the organism's own healthy tissue. Many species have two major subsystems of the immune system. The innate immune system provides a preconfigured response to broad groups of situations and stimuli. The adaptive immune system provides a tailored response to each stimulus by learning to recognize molecules it has previously encountered. Both use molecules and cells to perform their functions.
Interleukins (ILs) are a group of cytokines that were first seen to be expressed by white blood cells (leukocytes). ILs can be divided into four major groups based on distinguishing structural features. However, their amino acid sequence similarity is rather weak. The human genome encodes more than 50 interleukins and related proteins.
Interleukin 7 (IL-7) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IL7 gene.
Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IL33 gene.
Interleukin-25 (IL-25) – also known as interleukin-17E (IL-17E) – is a protein that in humans is encoded by the IL25 gene on chromosome 14. IL-25 was discovered in 2001 and is made up of 177 amino acids.
Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is protein that in humans is encoded by the IL22 gene.
Tomas Robert Lindahl FRS FMedSci is a Swedish-British scientist specialising in cancer research. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with American chemist Paul L. Modrich and Turkish chemist Aziz Sancar for mechanistic studies of DNA repair.
The nuocyte is a cell of the innate immune system that plays an important role in type 2 immune responses that are induced in response to helminth worm infection or in conditions such as asthma and atopic disease. Nuocytes are amongst the first cells activated in type 2 immune responses and are thought to play important roles in activating and recruiting other cells types through their production of type 2 cytokines interleukin 4, 5 and 13. Nuocytes have been observed to proliferate in the presence of IL-7 in vitro. Nuocytes contribute to the expulsion of helminth worms and to the pathology of colitis and allergic airways disease.
Interleukin-23 (IL-23) is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of an IL12B (IL-12p40) subunit and the IL23A (IL-23p19) subunit. IL-23 is part of IL-12 family of cytokines. A functional receptor for IL-23 has been identified and is composed of IL-12R β1 and IL-23R. Adnectin-2 is binding to IL-23 and compete with IL-23/IL-23R. mRNA of IL-23R is 2,8 kB in length and includes 12 exons. The translated protein contains 629 amino acids, which is a type I penetrating protein includes signal peptide, an N-terminal fibronectin III-like domain and an intracellular part contains 3 potential tyrosine phosphorylation domains. There are 24 variants of splicing of IL-23R in mitogen-activated lymphocytes. IL-23R has some single nucleotide polymorphisms in the domain of binding IL-23 so there can be differences in activation of Th17. There is also variant of IL-23R which has just extracellular part and it´s known as soluble IL-23R. This form can compete with membrane form to bind IL-23 and there can be difference in activation of Th17 immune response and regulation of inflammation and immune function.
Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are the most recently discovered family of innate immune cells, derived from common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs). In response to pathogenic tissue damage, ILCs contribute to immunity via the secretion of signalling molecules, and the regulation of both innate and adaptive immune cells. ILCs are primarily tissue resident cells, found in both lymphoid, and non- lymphoid tissues, and rarely in the peripheral blood. They are particularly abundant at mucosal surfaces, playing a key role in mucosal immunity and homeostasis. Characteristics allowing their differentiation from other immune cells include the absence of regular lymphoid morphology, rearranged antigen receptors found on T cells and B cells, and phenotypic markers usually present on myeloid or dendritic cells.
Gideon John Davies FRS FRSC FMedSci in the York Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL) at the University of York, UK. Davies is best known for his ground-breaking studies into carbohydrate-active enzymes, notably analysing the conformational and mechanistic basis for catalysis and applying this for societal benefit. In 2016 Davies was made the Royal Society Ken Murray Research Professor at the University of York.
Adrian Clive Hayday FMedSci FRS is the Kay Glendinning professor and Chair in the Department of Immunobiology at King's College London and group leader at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK.
Luke Anthony John O'Neill is professor of biochemistry in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin.
ILC2 cells, or type 2 innate lymphoid cells are a type of innate lymphoid cell. They are derived from common lymphoid progenitor and belong to the lymphoid lineage. These cells lack antigen specific B or T cell receptor because of the lack of recombination activating gene. ILC2s produce type 2 cytokines and are involved in responses to helminths, allergens and some viruses, such as influenza virus.
(Edith) Yvonne Jones is director of the Cancer Research UK Receptor Structure Research Group at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. She is widely known for her research on the molecular biology of cell surface receptors and signalling complexes.
Anne Carla Ferguson-Smith is a mammalian developmental geneticist. She is the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics, Head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge.
James Briscoe is a senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute in London and editor-in-chief of the journal Development.
Jörg Hermann Fritz is an Austrian immunologist at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He is known for his work in studying the role of allergen detection and tissue-disruptive signals in orchestrating early innate immune responses that result in the development of type 2 immune responses. Specifically, he is interested in the dysregulation of these responses that result in asthma, allergies, and atopic dermatitis. Fritz has done research is various topics in immunology, but his favourite work was with the development of vaccine adjuvants which he worked on during his MSc and PhD.
Charles Bangham holds the Chair in Immunology at Imperial College London.
Caetano Maria Pacheco Pais dos Reis e Sousa is a senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute and a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London.
