Skip to contents
In This Issue:
When we think of our body’s first line of defense, we might imagine immune cells coursing through the bloodstream seeking out foreign invaders. But what if our body’s first line of defense weren’t these mobile warriors, but rather, a powerful group of immune cells standing guard in tissue, closer to the front line? These cells, called tissue resident memory T-cells, were recently shown to exist in abundance, and they are being studied by a team of scientists led by Thomas S. Kupper, MD, chairman of the Department of Dermatology and Dermatologist Rachael Clark, MD, PhD.
Kupper and Clark received one of only 17 National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2011 Common Fund’s Transformative Research grants awarded nationally. According to the NIH, “these awards are intended to support research that has the potential to transform the way we think about science, so the recipients represent an elite few with truly bold ideas with the potential to overturn scientific dogma and have a broad impact in medicine.”
With the $6 million grant, Kupper and Clark will study how certain immune cells play a role in how our bodies respond to infections; both are credited with first discovering and describing these unique immune cells.
Front-Line Defense
Germs, whether viruses, bacteria, or fungi, cause disease when they invade the body through our contact with the environment: skin, GI tract, lungs, oral and reproductive linings. For some time, scientists have known that there are immune cells in the bloodstream waiting for germs to invade through these surfaces. Once a germ invaded, such as a virus entering through the skin, the cells would rush there, enter the tissues, kill the virus and then return to the bloodstream.
However, Kupper and Clark discovered that some of these immune cells did not return to the bloodstream after attacking the virus. Instead, they remained in the tissue, often for months to years, waiting for the virus to return.
They named these cells that stayed behind in skin, tissue resident memory T-cells, while those that returned to the bloodstream were called central memory T-cells. Aside from skin, tissue resident memory T-cells have been found so far in the lung, mouth and intestines.
“Central memory T-cells are important to have as a back-up,” said Kupper. “However, tissue resident memory T-cells are very effective at protecting us. They really represent our first line of defense.”
Skin Deep: A New Approach to Vaccines
With the NIH award, Kupper and Clark will use what they know about tissue resident memory T-cells to explore the possibilities of making better vaccines.
Traditionally, vaccines are designed to help the body make antibodies, a type of germ-fighting protein made by immune cells called B-cells. Instead, Kupper believes that the key to immunization is to make vaccines that help the body make tissue resident memory T-cells.
“The way to make a better vaccine is to generate tissue resident memory T-cells that live in tissues,” said Kupper. “So that as soon as the virus breaches the barrier it can be attacked. Antibodies can help, but they cannot substitute for resident memory T-cells that perform this function.”
Comments
Email Address:
Subject:
Comment: {Please limit your charaters to 300}