Immunology

Innate Targeting of Pathogens

Pathogen
Examples
Facts
Pattern recognition alerted by
Viruses

flu, small pox, HIV, polio, Ebola, rhinovirus, hepatitis, measles
Can only reproduce inside cells Foreign nucleic acids (double stranded RNA, single stranded DNA, foreign methylation patterns), reduced antigen presentation by infected cells
So viruses are usually recognized by something unusual in their nucleic acids.(Double RNA, normally, RNA is a single strain)

Bacteria

Strep, staph, TB, anthrax, leprosy, bubonic plague, pertussis, diphtheria

Reproduce intracellularly or extracellularly, depending on type
Characteristic surface carbohydrates
(peptidoglycan, mannose repeats), flagellar proteins (flagellin), lipids
(lipotechoic acid) characteristic DNA methylation patterns
Fungi

Candida (thrush) athlete’s foot,
Cryptococcus,
Ringworm(Dermatophytosis )

Eukaryotic, unicellular, multicellular or multinucleate Cell wall: zymosan ( β 1-3 glucan) and chitin (cellulose with N-acetyl glucosamine instead of just glucose)
Protozoa

malaria, Chagas, sleeping sickness, amebic dysentery, leishmaniasis Unicellular eukaryotes Characteristic cell surface proteins
(profilin) and lipids (glycosylated phosphatidyl inositols - GPI)
Worms (helminth parasites)

pin worms, hook worms, heartworms, schistosomiasis, flukes, tapeworms

Primarily members of
Platyhelminthes
(flatworms) and
Nematoda
(roundworms)
Characteristic cell surface proteins

PAMPs (Pathogen Associated Molecular Patterns) Recognized by PRRs –pattern recognition receptors
Pathogen-associated molecular patterns, or PAMPs1, are molecules associated with groups of pathogens that are recognized by cells of the innate immune system. These molecules can be referred to as small molecular motifs2 conserved within a class of microbes. They are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and other