Abstract

CADAVID, LUIS F.. Alternative Immune Systems. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2011, vol.16, n.3, pp.189-196. ISSN 0120-548X.

The immune system in animals is a complex network of molecules, cells and tissues that coordinately maintain the physiological and genetic integrity of the organism. Traditionally, two classes of immunity have been considered, the innate immunity and the adaptive immunity. The former is ancestral, with limited variability and low discrimination. The latter is highly variable, specific and limited to jawed vertebrates. Adaptive immunity is based on antigen receptors that rearrange somatically to generate a nearly unlimited diversity of molecules. Likely, this mechanism of somatic recombination arose as a consequence of horizontal transfer of transposons and transposases from bacterial genomes in the ancestor of jawed vertebrates. The recent discovery in jawless vertebrates and invertebrates of alternative adaptive immune mechanisms, suggests that during evolution different animal groups have found alternative solutions to the problem of immune recognition.

Keywords : sistema inmune; evolución; VLR; Dscam; alorreconocimiento.

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