| Literature DB >> 12955131 |
Joachim Kurtz1, Karoline Franz.
Abstract
Acquired immunity in vertebrates is characterized by immunological memory and specificity, whereas the innate defence systems of invertebrates are assumed to have no specific memory. Here we use a model system of a copepod, which is a minute crustacean, and a parasitic tapeworm to show that the success of reinfection depends on the antigenic resemblance between the consecutively encountered parasites. This finding indicates that an invertebrate defence system may be capable of specific memory.Mesh:
Year: 2003 PMID: 12955131 DOI: 10.1038/425037a
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nature ISSN: 0028-0836 Impact factor: 49.962