This article is part of the supplement: Fourth Dominique International Conference. Maternal chronic viral infections transmitted to infants: from mechanisms to prevention and care

Lecture presentation

Neonatal adaptation of the immune system

Per Brandtzaeg

Laboratory for Immunohistochemistry and Immunopathology, Department and Institute of Pathology, University of Oslo, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center, Norway

corresponding author email

Retrovirology 2008, 5(Suppl 1):L6doi:10.1186/1742-4690-5-S1-L6

Published:	9 April 2008

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

The vast majority of immunological challenges confronting the body make contact with mucosal surfaces, including infectious agents and foreign proteins. To maintain homeostasis in the extensive and vulnerable mucosae, they are protected by specialized mechanisms of immune protection. Numerous genes are involved in the regulation of both innate (natural) and adaptive (acquired) immunity, with a variety of modifications introduced over million of years.