Journal
CURRENT OPINION IN IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 20, Issue 6, Pages 684-689Publisher
CURRENT BIOLOGY LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.coi.2008.10.002
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Funding
- NIH [HL-081639, HL-084225]
- Korean Government (MOEHRD) [KRF-2006-611-E00002]
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Chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, is commonly found in lower organisms such as fungi, crustaceans, and insects, but not in mammals. Although the non-specific anti-viral and aft-tumor activities of chitin/chitin derivatives were described two decades ago, the immunological effects of chitin have been only recently been addressed. Recent studies demonstrated that chitin has complex and size-dependent effects on innate and adaptive immune responses including the ability to recruit and activate innate immune cells and induce cytokine and chemokine production via a variety of cell surface receptors including macrophage mannose receptor, toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2), and Dectin-1. They also demonstrated adjuvant effects of chitin in allergen-induced type 1 or type 2 inflammation and provided insights into the important roles of chitinases and chitinase-like proteins (C/CLP) in pulmonary inflammation. The status of the field and areas of controversy are highlighted.
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