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. 2018 Aug 22;9:1915. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01915

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Copyright © 2018 Melillo, Marino, Italiani and Boraschi.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Immune defensive responses in invertebrates. Humoral and cellular effectors cooperate to achieve parasite/pathogen clearance. The immune system recognizes foreign agents (parasites, viruses, bacteria) and responds with the migration and production of immune cells (cellular response) and proteins (humoral response). More specifically, following recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or other molecules by PRRs on immune cells, circulating haemocytes within the haemolymph or immune cells in injured tissues neutralize the intruder by either phagocytosis or encapsulation/melanization. In parallel, the same or different immune cells release factors that are directly toxic for pathogens (antimicrobial peptides, agglutinins, etc.), or that improve or facilitate cell-mediated pathogen killing (PO, opsonins, complement components, etc.).