You may have read about recent research, published in Science, describing a technique for revealing which viruses have infected someone by scanning antiviral antibodies in the blood.
Emory immunologists have identified corresponding cells in which long-lived antibody production resides. A subset of plasma cells keep a catalog of how an adult’s immune system responded to infections decades ago, in childhood encounters with measles or mumps viruses.
The results, published Tuesday, July 14 in Immunity, could provide vaccine designers with a goalpost when aiming for long-lasting antibody production.
“If you’re developing a vaccine, you want to fill up this compartment with cells that respond to your target antigen,†says co-senior author F. Eun-Hyung Lee, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and director of Emory Healthcare’s Asthma, Allergy and Immunology program.
The findings could advance investigation of autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus or rheumatoid arthritis, by better defining the cells that produce auto-reactive antibodies.
Lee says that her team’s research on plasma cells in humans provided insights unavailable from mice, since mice don’t live as long and their plasma cells also have a different pattern of protein markers. More here.
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