Cancer Immune Therapy Edited by G. Stuhler and P. Walden ...

Immune surveillance
Hypothesis proposing that the immune system provides the key instruments for the
identification of and interference with malignant development. The immune surveillance
hypothesis was originally proposed by F. M. Burnet who suggested that thymus-dependent
immune cells, i.e. T lymphocytes, continuously scan the body for
aberrant alterations which are then eliminated by destruction of the respective cells.
Immunocytokine
Recombinant chimeric molecule that combine the specificity-determining fragment
of an antibody with a cytokine in order to target the activity of the cytokine to a specific
site and thereby alter the respective microenvironment in favor of protective immune
responses.
Immunoglobulin
See Antibody.
Glossary
Immunotoxin
Artificial molecule composed of specific antibodies or the specificity-determining domain
thereof and a toxin. The toxin is thereby targeted to the site where it should exert
its cytotoxic effect. Some immunotoxins are recombinant proteins of an antibody
and a cytotoxic protein such as Pseudomonas exotoxin. In cancer therapy, immunotoxins
for the treatment of B and T lymphocyte lymphomas are undergoing clinical
trials. They target CD25 in cases of T lymphocyte lymphomas.
Innate immunity
Protection provided by the non-acquired, non-adaptive elements and mechanisms of
the immune system, including the skin as a physical barrier, antibiotic peptides, and
cells that eliminate microbial and viral material by phagocytosis. The innate immune
system phylogenetically predates adaptive immunity. It does not depend on
lymphocytes, needs no priming and utilizes receptors such as the Toll-like receptors
that are triggered by molecules present only in the microorganisms but not in the
vertebrate host.
Interferon (IFN)
Cytokines that are involved in inter-leukocyte communication and in the regulation
of the differentiation of T lymphocyte and other cells of the immune system as well
as in various cellular responses including the expression of MHC molecules and several
components of the antigen processing machineries. The name refers to the capacity
of the interferons to interfere with virus infection. They were originally identified
in supernatants of virus-infected cells as factors that render other cells resistant
to virus infection.
Interleukin (IL)
A series of cytokines that exert various different functions in the regulation of immune
reactions. They were originally described as soluble factors produced by leuko-
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