Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs)

Abstract

he term PAMPs was first introduced in 1989 by Janeway in his visionary article proposing the pattern recognition theory (Janeway 1989), to describe microbial components that are not found in multicellular hosts and whose recognition by a limited number of germline-encoded innate immune receptors (referred to as pattern recognition receptors: PRRs) allows detection of nonself, i.e., infection. The definition of this concept, which provided a framework for innate immune recognition, was later validated experimentally and has now become a paradigm (Medzhitov 2009, 2013). Innate immunity is the first line of host defense against invading microorganisms. It is mediated by a range of specialized cells such as phagocy ...