microbiology

As we are learning, pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are microbial molecules many microbes share but are not found as a part of the human body and are able to initiate innate immune responses. Examples thus far include peptidoglycan fragments, lipopolysaccharide in the gram-negative cell wall, and lipoteichoic acids in the gram-positive cell wall, molecules that human cells lack. Bacterial and viral genomes also act as PAMPs.