In this episode of A Moment with Dalton, we talk with Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project. Dr. de Rivero Vaccari focuses on understanding early inflammatory events corresponding to the innate immune response, the first line of defense against tissue damage and infections. He talks with Dr. Dietrich about his work trying to understand inflammasomes to help reduce or eliminate damage following injury. Follow the link to watch the entire interview.
Dr. de Rivero Vaccari’s research focuses on understanding early inflammatory events corresponding to the innate immune response, the first line of defense against tissue damage and infections.
The immune response is divided into two phases: Innate immunity and adaptive immunity. The innate immune phase corresponds to the early events of the inflammatory response and precedes the adaptive immune phase. It is classically defined as the first line of defense against infections or damage. It is initiated by danger/damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) or by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). DAMPs are endogenous ligands such as ATP, DNA or RNA, whereas PAMPs include exogenous activators like bacterial lipopolysaccharide or bacterial flagellin.
PRRs include toll-like receptors (TLRs), NOD-like receptors (NLRs), RIG-like receptors (RLRs) and C-type lectin receptors (CLRs). Upon PRR-activation, there are a series of signaling events that result in the production of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) or type I interferons (IFN), among others. These cytokines contribute to tissue damage by mechanisms such as cell death and exacerbated inflammation.