Immunology, as a modern day science, has its foundations in clinical medicine, molecular biology and biochemistry. Immunology as a discipline encompasses all the defensive immune mechanisms that allow the body to recognise an invading pathogen (e.g. a virus or bacteria) as foreign and counter that attack.
In the UK, the British Society for Immunology was founded in 1956 by a small group of immunologists who wanted to share their vision of the relevance of immunology. But, immunology’s origins go much further back. The ability of the body to resist disease was recognised by the Greeks in about 400BC and the Bible makes references to disease epidemics. While the idea of a contagious disease was accepted, the mechanisms behind the body’s fight against diseases were little understood.
Infectious diseases were, and unfortunately still are, prevalent and often fatal. Much of immunological research stems from early attempts to control diseases through immunization. In China and India, prophylactic inoculation against smallpox (variola) was practised for many centuries. Active immunization for smallpox was first introduced in Europe in 1798 by one of the founding fathers of immunology, Edward Jenner. The success of the smallpox vaccination program is borne out by the eradication of smallpox in 1980.
Like other areas of science, immunology is emerging from an era of identification and classification of molecules and cells. On the back of the molecular genetics revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the release of the first draft of the Human Genome Sequence in 2000, many of the publishing houses recognised the need for specialist immunology publications. One publication from the Nature group is Nature Immunology, which celebrates 10 years in print in July 2010.
Nature Immunology set out to publish high quality peer-reviewed research that got to the bottom of how protective immune responses arise. Much of what has been published has revealed the importance of individual cell types and molecules, particularly those that regulate the immune response. Understanding how communication occurs between the different arms of the immune response is also proving to be vital (see diagram).
The immune response is divided into two main types. Natural or innate immunity is present at birth and is not specific to that individual, but is activated in everybody on infection with a pathogen such as a virus or bacteria. Adaptive immunity is specific to an individual and reflects that person’s exposure to particular pathogens. The pattern of each person’s adaptive immune response is unique. A complex series of interactions take place between the cells involved, sometimes by cell-to cell contact and often by soluble messengers.
The cells of the immune system are unique among the body’s systems. The cells of the heart, lung, liver, brain etc can only function in that location. The immune system cells focus on surveillance. Cells must be able to move about, patrolling the body for invaders and sending out chemical messengers to galvanise the effector cells and killer cells. Many of the journal Nature Immunology publications have revealed tantalising glimpses of how the immune system works. But there is still some way to go and the latest issue of Nature Immunology illustrates some of the areas still to be explored.
Many pathogens enter the body through mucosal sites – the nose, mouth and gut. These sites are unique because they act as a barrier to protect their body, yet contain their own communities of harmless, commensal bacteria. Research is increasingly showing that these bacteria may have a special role to play in shaping the uniquely and unusual protective immunological function of mucosal sites.
Immune responses seem to form through the integration of multiple, simultaneous and often transient interactions between cells. Visualisation of immune cells in their environment, made possible by new microscope technology, is necessary to explore how specific immune responses occur in real time in living tissues.
And finally, the immune system does not act in isolation. Its itinerant nature means that it regularly encounters cells and molecules from the endocrine system and the nervous system, to name but two. By analysing neural networks and their largely unexplored interactions with the immune system, scientists are hoping it may be possible to produce therapeutic agents by targeting neural cells.
A wealth of influential papers published in Nature Immunology over the last 10 years highlight how far Immunology has come since the early days of smallpox vaccinations. The complexity of the immune system that has been revealed is likely to lead to decades more of fascinating findings. Nature Immunology’s motto remains ‘Immunology. All of it.’
Sources
Cruse, JM and Lewis, RE. Historical Atlas of Immunology (2005). Published by Taylor and Francis, UK.
"Looking forward." Nature Immunology 11, 545 (2010) doi:10.1038/ni0710-545
Catherine Whitlock - After some fun years in medical research poring over a microscope, I now write about the scientific wonders that others have magnified.I ...
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