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CHAPTER 10 Chapter 9 Course program
THE CHALLENGES FOR IMMUNOLOGY
Although great advances have been achieved in the field of porcine immunology
during the last years, there are still some important issues that require more research
and development.
What is still not known?
What we know about immunology, as in most sciences, is constantly moving forward together with
improvements in technology. Although important progress has been achieved in the last years, there
are still many issues that are not yet well known about this science. In this chapter we will review
some of these challenges, starting with the cells of the immune system and ending with the
protective mechanisms.
There are still some unknown areas that need to
be cleared up in the field of the cells of the
immune system. this is true regarding the
receptors of lymphocytes a-b and g-d, and
antigen presenting cells APC), especially
dendritic cells, that may help us to better
understand the mechanisms of the cell
cooperation during the development of the
immune response.
Diagram of the cellular collaboration during the adaptive immune
response.
Another challenge for porcine immunology is the better
understanding of the mechanisms involved in the immunity
of the mucosa, regarding to the infection routes and the
transportation of antigens that allow an enhanced immune
response.
Regarding the porcine immunoglobulins; a better
knowledge of the immunoglobulin IgE is necessary. Up til
now it has only been identified in an indirect way. Also, the
existence of porcine IgD needs to be confirmed, and the
available information about the protective role of
immunoglobulin IgA must be enlarged.
Porcine immunology needs a better understanding of
cytokines; only 19 porcine cytokines have been cloned.
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ANTIGEN PRESENTATION IN THE INDUCING AREA OF THE
MUCOSA. Anti gens enteri ng the gut epi thel i al cel l are
readi l y destroyed by the l ysosomes. However, those anti gens
that are captured by the M cel l s are transported, wi thout
bei ng destroyed, and l ater presented to the i ntra-epi thel i al
l ymphocytes. Then, they are transported to the l ymphati c
nodes.
One of the aspects requiring more research is their role in
the innate and adaptive immune response, in the
hematopoiesis and in lymphocyte activation.



Cytokines play a mayor role in the innate immune
response due to the mechanisms of direct action against
the infectious agent (they prevent the infection of the cells
by the viruses) or by mechanisms of cell activation (NK
and macrophages) which at the same time induces the
release of more cytokines.

One of the functions of cytokines is the attraction of the different cells
of the immune system.
Finally, there is a need to improve what we
know about the immune mechanisms that
work against infectious and parasitic agents.
Parasites, due to their complex antigenic
structure and their different life cycles, use
different strategies to evade the immune
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response by using intracellular infections or
antigenic variations that are not yet well
understood. Parasite immunology is one of the
pending subjects. In addition, more effective
vaccines against bacterial and viral agents
must be achieved, which means more research
should be performed in this area. DNA vaccines
will in the near future, represent an
excellent option.
Diagram showing the different types of new generation vaccines.

Which way will immunological studies go?

The development of new technologies will allow a better understanding of the subjects mentioned above. The
development of genetic engineering, that allow the cloning and expression of different genes (thus knowing
the role of the proteins that they codify), as well as new transgenic experimental animals, either knock-out
animals (which have some of their genes suppressed and thus do not express certain proteins)
or animals in which a new gene has been
incorporated, are some of the new technologies
now available that will help to better understand
the immune response.
We must not forget the essential role that
monoclonal antibodies play in the study of
populations and subpopulations of lymphocytes
and in the study of epitopes from different
antigens. Also, syngenetic animals are
important when studying the histocompatibility
system. Thanks to all these new techniques the
advances in the knowledge of porcine
immunology will keep moving forward.
Diagram showing the production of monocolonal antibodies.

Which will be the future role of pigs?
Nowawdays, porcine production is one of the main sources of material for the meat industry in the European
Union, and is an important part of the total agricultural production. This production will be increased in the future
thanks, among other factors, to increased production in Spain. All this makes the pig a strategic animal in
future economic development; therefore research on this species is of vital importance. Moreover, pigs
are not only considered as a source of protein, but also as a source of organs for transplants in the humans
species.
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Xenografts (grafts between xenogeneic members of different species) are an alternative due to low
numbers of available human organs for transplants. Donations are insufficient even in Spain, which has
one of the highest organ donation rates in the world. Among the different animal species considered as
possible donors (primates, baboons), pigs have some important advantages.

Some of these advantages are: they breed
easily, their size is compatible to human
size, There is a smaller risk of cross-
infections (excepting endogen porcine
retroviruses; the sanitary consequences are
now being studied) and the possibility exists
of producing poly-transgenic pigs that
express different genes in order to avoid the
acute rejection of the vascular rejection,
which are nowadays the main problems of
xenografts. There already are transgenic pigs
regarding DAF (Decay Accelerating Factor).
DAF inhibits the production of cobertasas of C3
and C5, avoiding the activation of the
complement by both pathways during the
hyperacute rejection.
Electronic microscopy image of retrovirus.

From what has been explained above, we can suggest that research on pigs will be, during the following years,
one important issue in the scientific strategy in most developed countries.
Picture of a baboon. This species was considered as the
main candidate for xenografts in humans.
It seems that transgenic pigs and especially poly-transgenic ones
seem to be the candidate donors of xenografts for the human species.
CHAPTER 10 Chapter 9 Course program

Copyright. 2001. Jos Manuel Snchez-Vizcano Rodrguez. All rights reserved.
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