When bacteria invade the human host, they are directly confronted with a serious threat, the human innate immune system. This chapter describes the challenge that a staphylococci face and recent findings on how this bacterium counteracts the massive attack of this innate immune system. In order...

The interaction between Ixodid ticks and their mammalian hosts is a complex relationship. While the mammalian host tries to avoid the completion of the feeding process, the tick has devised strategies to counteract these attempts. Tick saliva contains a vast array of pharmacological activities...

Complement activation is a crucial step in our innate immune defense against invading bacteria. Complement proteins can quickly recognize invading bacteria and subsequently label them for phagocytosis or kill them by direct lysis. In order to survive in the human host, bacterial pathogens have...

ES‑62 is a protein that is actively secreted by filarial nematodes during parasitism of the vertebrate host. The molecule is able to directly interact with a number of cells of the immune system including B‑lymphocytes, dendritic cells, macrophages and mast cells. Interaction appears to be...

The immune system functions by maintaining a delicate balance between the activities of pro‑inflammatory and anti‑inflammatory pathways. Unbalanced activation of these pathways often leads to the development of serious inflammatory diseases. TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) is a key...

In recent years an explosion of information on the various strategies viruses employ to penetrate and hijack the host cell has led to an increased understanding of both viruses themselves and the host immune response. Despite their simplicity viruses have evolved a number of strategies to not...

Bacterial toxins are the causative agent of pathology in a variety of diseases. Although not always the primary target of these toxins, many have been shown to have potent immuno‑modulatory effects, for example, inducing immune responses to co‑administered antigens and suppressing activation...

Here, we discuss the mechanisms of repression of signaling pathways that are triggered by Lipoxin (LX) and are responsible for control of pro‑inflammatory response during chronic phase of Toxoplasma gondii infection. We also discuss this mechanism from the perspective of the pathogen, which...

Invasive fungal infections are an increasing clinical problem for which new therapeutic approaches are needed. Understanding the initial interaction between fungi and the host offers potential for development of new drugs or vaccines. It has recently been recognized that like other pathogens,...

There is an epidemic of immune‑mediated disease in highly‑developed industrialized countries. Such diseases, like inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and asthma increase in prevalence as populations adopt modern hygienic practices. These practices prevent exposure to parasitic...

Serine proteinase inhibitors, also called serpins, are an ancient grouping of proteins found in primitive organisms from bacteria, protozoa and horseshoe crabs and thus likely present at the time of the dinosaurs, up to all mammals living today. The innate or inflammatory immune system is also an...

Chemokines are chemoattractant cytokines that play an important role in immunity. The role of chemokines against invading pathogens is emphasized by the expression of chemokine inhibitors by many pathogens. A mechanims employed by poxviruses and herpesviruses is the secretion of chemokine binding...

Infection of man with parasitic helminths leads to potent activation and modulation of the host immune response. This modulation of immunity by helminth infections may have bystander effects in altering, either suppressing or exacerbating, unrelated inflammatory processes. Various ongoing...