DANGER THEORY AND DAMAGE-ASSOCIATED MOLECULAR PATTERN

The immune system (IS) of mammals has developed many mechanisms to effectively ravage foreign factors, including pathogens. In 1994, Polly Matzinger published a theory of danger, a new view in immunology, describing the response of the immune system to danger, caused by trauma and/or presence of pathogens. This theory brings a different view on the current theory, that the IS distinguishes between own (self) and foreign (non-self) structures and reacts only to non-self factors. According to the danger theory, the IS has the ability to verify “safe” and “dangerous” factors, thus explaining immune reactions caused by tissue damage, referred to as “sterile inflammation”, but also occurring during the infection. It is believed that the fundamental elements in danger theory are dangerous molecules-damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP), which are released from damaged or dead tissue and cells, but they are also present in physiological conditions and give analogous immune response to this induced by self/ non-self factors.

1. Introduction. 2. The danger theory. 3. Damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP). 3.1. Characteristics of selected damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP). 4. Summary