DEEP WORK

1. IntroductionMost infections start at or affect the mucosal epithelia of animals. Mucosal surfaces face many antigens while living in harmony with commensal microorganisms, known conjunctionally as microbiota. Over the last few years, the literature has been filled with many studies on how the microbiota shapes the host and its immune system [1e3].  Commensal colonization brings many physiolog..

1. IntroductionIn the last decades mucosal immunology of more evolved vertebrates is a strongly explored field of research. Although a well functioning mucosal immune system in fish would be very beneficial to live in a pathogen rich aquatic environment, not many details are known about this system in this group of animals. This review will summarize the data known about the intestinal immune sy..

INTRODUCTIONIt is instructive to categorize various tissue compartments involved in mucosal immunity according to their main function. However, until recently, there was no consensus in the scientific community as to how these compartments should be named and classified. This lack of standardized terminology has been particularly confusing for newcomers to the mucosal immunology field. To addres..

1. IntroductionHigher metazoans have different barriers that separate themselves from the surrounding environment. Whereas some animal species evolved non-mucosal barriers (i.e. the cuticle of arthropods), others, such as teleost fish, developed mucosal surfaces as their strategy to protect themselves from the aggressions of the environment. In addition to being physical barriers, mucosal surfac..

1. IntroductionThe thymus is considered a key organ of the immune system in vertebrates. It is a unique vertebrate organ whose development can be traced through the evolutionary scale beginning in early fish species as a thickening in the epithelium of the pharyngeal area of the gastro-intestinal tract. The thymus is responsible for production of self-restricted and self-tolerant T-cells [1]. In..

INTRODUCTIONTHE INNATE AND ACQUIRE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF BONY FISHThe immune system is a set of cellular and humoral components to defend the body against foreign substances, such as microorganisms, toxins or malignant cells, responding to factors such as endogenous or exogenous components that stimulate this system. The fish immune system is divided into innate and adaptive (memory), both divided in..

Fish immune system—an overview Like mammals, the fish immune system is built with two components, i.e., non-specifc, or innate immunity, and specifc or adaptive immunity. The nonspecifc immune system in fish is the second line of defence, which responds non-specifcally against pathogens before the specifc immune system takes command of the defence mechanism (Firdaus-Nawi and Zamri-Saad 2016). Bo..