The innate immune system in transplantation

- The innate immune system is a non-self recognition system responsible for triggering adaptive immunity by activating antigen presenting cells.
- Innate mechanisms critical for microbial recognition contribute to but are neither necessary nor sufficient for alloimmunity or rejection.
- Cell damage or death associated with the transplantation procedure releases a large variety of 'danger' molecules that potentiate rejection.
- Innate immune cells, such as monocytes, can distinguish between self and allogeneic non-self. The molecular mechanisms are not known.
- Investigating the role of the innate immune system in memory T cell recall is particularly relevant to alloimmunity and rejection.