Author details

[74]. Based on these facts, a role for RBCs in the adaptive immune response may be established. However, the function of these molecules and their effect on the antiviral adaptive immune response of nucleated RBCs remain to be studied.

An overview of protein–protein interaction network of a set of proteins, identified in rainbow trout proteome profiling, related to antigen processing and presentation of exogenous peptide antigen via MHCII. Protein–protein interaction network was constructed using NetworkAnalyst software [75]. Highlighted red nodes represent the input protein-related antigen processing and presentation of exogenous peptide antigen via MHCII pathway (Reactome database). Other nodes represent other protein interactions

within the same pathway (red nodes) or related to other pathways (other colors).

Immune Response Activation and Immunomodulation

Nucleated red blood cells (RBCs) of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds contain the transcriptional and translational machinery necessary to produce characteristic molecules of the immune system to respond against pathogen attacks. The mechanisms by which nucleated RBCs may contribute to the clearance of the pathogens are (i) phagocytosis, (ii) antigen presentation, (iii) producing cytokines and antimicrobial peptides, (iv) regulation of complement system, and (v) exerting paracrine molecular communication with other immune cells and modulate their functions. The nucleated RBCs seem to be involved in regulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses, and these findings highlight the important contribution of RBCs in the host defense against pathogens. However, more studies are needed to elucidate the role of RBCs in the immune response and the molecular mechanisms involved in these processes. And, the RBCs could be considered as potential targets for new prophylactic or therapeutic strategies against viral

4. Conclusion

Figure 4.

infections.

46

Verónica Chico, Ivan Nombela, Sara Puente-Marín and María del Mar Ortega-Villaizan\* Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Spain

\*Address all correspondence to: mortega-villaizan@umh.es

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
