title: The affirmative response of the innate immune system to apoptotic cells.
abstract: Growing evidence exists for a new role for apoptotic cell recognition and clearance in immune homeostasis. Apoptotic cells at all stages, irrespective of membrane integrity, elicit a signature set of signaling events in responding phagocytes, both professional and non-professional. These signaling events are initiated by receptor-mediated recognition of apoptotic determinants, independently of species, cell type, or apoptotic stimulus. We propose that the ability of phagocytes to respond to apoptotic targets with a characteristic set of signaling events comprises a second distinct dimension of innate immunity, as opposed to the traditional innate discrimination of self vs. non-self. We further propose that a loss or abnormality of the signaling events elicited by apoptotic cells, as distinct from the actual clearance of those cells, may predispose to autoimmunity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: Vimal A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longacre-Antoni
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cvetanovic
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lanfei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Hanli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ucker
authors.forename: Jerrold S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D006801:Humans; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology*