Components of bacteria have been shown to induce innate antiviral immunity via Toll-like receptors (TLRs). We have recently shown that FimH, the adhesin portion of type 1 fimbria, can induce the innate immune system via TLR4. Here we report that FimH induces potent in vitro and in vivo innate antimicrobial responses. FimH induced an innate antiviral state in murine macrophage and primary MEFs w...

We introduce a technique that allows a robot to increase its resiliency and learning skills by exploiting a process akin to self-reflection. A robot contains two controllers: A pure reactive innate controller, and a reflective controller that can observe, model and control the innate controller. The reflective controller adapts the innate controller without access to the innate controller’s int...

Innate, non-specific, resistance mechanisms are important barriers to pathogens, particularly delaying virus multiplication at the onset of infections. These innate defense mechanisms include a series of mechanical barriers, pre-existing inhibitory molecules, and cellular responses with antimicrobial activity. The antiviral activities of these innate inhibitors reside in a variety of partly cha...

The role of the innate immune system in asthma initiation is being increasingly recognised, and several innate epithelial cytokines, such as interleukin 33 (IL-33), IL-25 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin, have been described as important in asthma pathogenesis. However, until now, the mechanism by which these cytokines initiate Th2 responses and form a link with the adaptive immune system was u...

The innate immune system is the first line of defense in response to nonself and danger signals from microbial invasion or tissue injury. It is increasingly recognized that each organ uses unique sets of cells and molecules that orchestrate regional innate immunity. The cells that execute the task of innate immunity are many and consist of not only "professional" immune cells but also nonimmune...

Innate immunity forms the first line of host defense. It is quick and usually shapes the adaptive immune responses which clear off the pathogens. However, dysregulated innate immune responses can lead to excessive inflammation which causes significant damage to the host. As a result, innate immune responses are tightly regulated. In this review, we focus on mechanisms by which microRNA let-7 re...