T cells of the immune system (immune system) are known as special forces, standing forces, and the military, which find and attack infected cells such as cancer cells.
T cells taught in biology textbooks are poised to constantly respond to threats ranging from viruses to tumors.
However, these powerful T cells also die if they do not get enough rest and neglect maintenance, a study has found that our bodies, the hosts, become much more vulnerable to various pathogens.
“We may have to change the way we teach T-cell biology in the future,” said Lie Ping Chun, a professor of immunobiology and dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine, the lead author of the study.
He is also an associate professor of cancer research at Yale University at United Technologies, an American conglomerate.
T cells remain in a quiescent state until a pathogen is detected. However, until now, the molecular mechanism that keeps T cells in this inactive state is unknown.
The team found that a protein known as CD8a is very important for keeping cells in a resting state. The CD8a protein is found in a subpopulation of T cells called CD8 cells.
According to the results of the study, when the CD8a protein was removed from mice, T cells (protective CD8 cells) died because they might not enter the resting state, which made the host more susceptible to infection with viruses.
Another protein (PILRa) that sends a biochemical signal to CD8a has also been identified. By disrupting this protein pair, ‘memory’ CD8 cells and ‘naïve’ cells that have never been exposed to the pathogen lose their ability to remain dormant, leading to death.
A ‘memory’ cell is a cell that has already been exposed to a pathogen, and a ‘naive’ cell is a cell that has never been exposed to the pathogen.
The researchers say that understanding why this resting state is important for the maintenance and survival of T cells might improve the functioning of the immune system.
Professor Cheon said, “Since people tend to lose both unsensitized T cells and memory T cells as they get older, the elderly are more likely to be infected with viruses and cancer cells.”
The results of this study (The CD8α–PILRα interaction maintains CD8+ T cell quiescence) were published in the journal Science and were introduced by MedicalXpress, an American health and medical media.
By Kim Young-seop, staff reporter [email protected]
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