IIMory

The immune response is classically divided into innate or adaptive. Adaptive immunity specifically recognises a pathogen and builds immunological memory towards that specific pathogen. In contrast, current opinion holds that innate immune responses are non-specific and unable to build up immunological memory. However, the assumption that innate immune responses do not exhibit memory has to be challenged. We established a degree of memory attributable to innate monocytes and our data suggest that innate immune responses have the capacity to be imprinted and “trained” by primary infection towards a heightened response upon secondary insults; this represents a novel -and different- type of immunological memory upon re-infection. This recently described memory feature of innate immunity is an important characteristic of the immune responses in mammals. In this project, two complementary approaches with distinct objectives will be pursued. The first part of the project will be devoted to unravel the physiological characteristics and function of innate immune memory in mouse model to delineate the cell population(s) involved and their function(s). The second part of the proposal will elucidate the relevance of innate immune memory by determining the duration and reversibility of the conferred protection. Deciphering the imprinting mechanisms of innate immunological memory will reveal a novel dimension of the mammalian immune system. This project will have a huge impact on understanding the mammalian host defences, and could form the basis for novel strategies of vaccination, opening new directions of research on viable immunotherapeutic strategies in severe infection, sepsis and serious inflammatory conditions.