Review: Chemical and structural modifications of pulmonary collectins and their functional consequences.

ABSTRACT: The lung is continuously exposed to inhaled pathogens (toxic pollutants, micro-organisms, environmental antigens, allergens) from the external environment. In the broncho-alveolar space, the critical balance between a measured protective response against harmful pathogens and an inappropriate inflammatory response to harmless particles is discerned by the innate pulmonary immune system. Among its many components, the surfactant proteins and specifically the pulmonary collectins (surfactant proteins A [SP-A] and D [SP-D]) appear to provide important contributions to the modulation of host defense and inflammation in the lung. Many studies have shown that multimerization of SP-A and SP-D are important for efficient local host defense including neutralization and opsonization of influenza A v

SUBMITTER: Atochina-Vasserman EN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4361894 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature