Trained immunity: General and emerging concepts

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Cell Biology
• Epigenetics

Background:

• Innate immune cells traditionally provide non-specific, short-term pathogen defense.
• Recent findings reveal innate immune cells possess adaptive characteristics, including memory.
• This innate immune memory, or trained immunity, involves antigen-agnostic responses to secondary stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent advancements in innate immune memory research.
• To elucidate the mechanisms and cell types involved in trained immunity.
• To explore the role of trained immunity in disease pathogenesis and therapeutic potential.

Main Methods:

• Review of current scientific literature on innate immune memory.
• Analysis of metabolic rewiring and epigenetic modifications in trained immunity.
• Examination of cell types mediating trained immunity.

Main Results:

• Innate immune cells can acquire long-term memory (trained immunity) via epigenetic and metabolic changes.
• Trained immunity enhances responsiveness to secondary immune challenges.
• Dysregulated trained immunity contributes to autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Conclusions:

• Trained immunity represents a significant adaptive feature of innate immunity.
• Understanding trained immunity mechanisms is crucial for developing therapies for immune-related disorders.
• Targeting trained immunity offers potential therapeutic strategies for autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions.