White Blood Cells – BioQuakes

A study has recently surfaced stating that maternal exposure to industrial pollution may harm the immune system of one’s offspring and that this impairment is then passed from generation to generation, resulting in weak body defenses against viruses.

Paige Lawrence, Ph.D., with the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Environmental Medicine, led the study and conducted research in mice, which have similar immune system functions as humans. Previously, studies have shown that exposure to toxins in the environment can have effects on the respiratory, reproductive, and nervous system function among generations; however, Lawrence’s research is the first study to declare that the immune system is also impacted.

“The old adage ‘you are what you eat’ is a touchstone for many aspects of human health,” said Lawrence. “But in terms of the body’s ability to fights off infections, this study suggests that, to a certain extent, you may also be what your great-grandmother ate.”

Industrial Pollution

“When you are infected or receive a flu vaccine, the immune system ramps up production of specific kinds of white blood cells in response,” said Lawrence. “The larger the response, the larger the army of white blood cells, enhancing the ability of the body to successfully fight off an infection. Having a smaller size army — which we see across multiple generations of mice in this study — means that you’re at risk for not fighting the infection as effectively.”

In the study, researchers exposed pregnant mice to environmentally relevant levels of a chemical called dioxin, which is a common by-product of industrial production and wast incineration, and is also found in some consumer products. These chemicals eventually are consumed by humans as a result of them getting into the food system, mainly found in animal-based food products.

The scientists found the production and function of the mice’s white blood cells was impaired after being infected with the influenza A virus. Researchers observed the immune response in the offspring of the mice whose mothers were exposed to dioxin. Additionally, the immune response was also found in the following generations, as fas as the great-grandchildren (or great- grandmice). It was also found that this immune response was greater in female mice. This discovery now allows researchers to have more information and evidence to be able to more accurately create a claim about this theory.

A Laboratory Mouse

As a result of the study, researchers were able to state that the exposure to dioxin alters the transcription of genetic instructions. According to the researchers, the environmental exposure to pollutants does not trigger a genetic mutation. Instead, ones cellular machinery is changed and the immune response is passed down generation to generation. This discovery explains information that was originally unexplainable. It is obviously difficult to just avoid how much toxins you are exposed to in the environment, but it is definitely interesting to see the extent of the immune responses in subsequent generations. We can only hope that this new information, and further discoveries, help people adjust what they release into this world that results in these harmful toxins humans are exposed to, and their offsprings.

Killer Cells Caught Red-Handed!

By sgagliotide

On December 10, 2017

In Student Post

Antibiotics are most commonly used to treat bacterial infections, but bacteria are rapidly able to evolve and resist these drugs, contributing to superbugs. Immune killer cells or white blood cells, however, are seemingly more effective at destroying bacteria cells. How do our immune cells fight bacteria so efficiently? What exact mechanisms do killer cells use to track and destroy bacteria and can we replicate those mechanisms with drugs?

White Blood Cell (farthest to right)

A common way immune cells can the trigger death of bacteria is by oxidizing the bacterial cells. However, immune cells are still able to destroy bacteria in environments without oxygen leading scientists to believe other methods are also used in attacking bacteria.

Scientists have recently discovered that immune cells methodically kill cells without the use of oxygen. The immune cells do this by shooting enzymes into bacteria to program the bacteria to self-destruct. Scientists have discovered this by observing immune killer cells as they destroy E. coli and the bacteria responsible for Listeria and tuberculosis. They measured the protein levels of each different bacteria before, during, and after the immune cells killed the bacteria. Each bacterial strain started with about 3000 proteins and ended up losing around 10% of their proteins due to the immune cells injected enzyme called granzyme B. Those 10% of proteins destroyed, however, were necessary to the survival of each bacteria. Granzyme B also shuts down ribosomes preventing the bacteria from making new proteins.

This discovery is significant at a time where antibiotics are becoming less efficient and superbugs are becoming prevalent. Scientists hope to design a new drug that will treat bacterial infections in a similar way to our own immune killer cells.

New Breakthrough in Cancer Research

By kem24

On November 18, 2013

In Student Post

A metastasized tumor is a group of cancer cells that have spread from a localized area through out the body. Normally once a cancer has metastasized the patient has a more serious prognosis. In some cancers, metastatic disease can be a death sentence. For years scientists have been challenged with understanding how tumors spread beyond their initial boundaries.

Their questions may have finally been answered. Researchers at Yale University have found metastasis in the brain of a cancer patient with melanoma that is a hybrid of Tumor and White Blood Cells. It is hypothesized that these hybrids may explain how cancers travel to distant sites and metastasize. This theory had been proposed before, but it was not until recently that genes from both tumor and White Blood cells were found in tumor cells. Researchers tested their theory on a sixty-eight year old cancer patient who had received a bone marrow transplant from his brother. Bone marrow helps stimulate the production of white blood cells. No one person’s bone marrow is exactly alike, even if they are brothers. Researchers found that the bone marrow the patient had received from his brother fused with the cancer cells to make a hybrid cell almost identical to that of the patient. This implies that the cancer cells are not just targeting the specific, weak white blood cells of the cancer patient, but also the healthier blood cells of his brother. Cancer can metastasize quicker than we had assumed.

So it leaves us with the question: What are we to do with this information? Researchers suggest that when the mechanism of fusion is fully understood, target therapies can be developed to attack the formation of the White Cell- tumor Hybrids.

Article Source:

http://www.livescience.com/41204-how-cancer-cells-spread-cell-fusion.html

Osmosis Jones: Fact vs. Fiction

By henroids

On March 10, 2013

In Student Post

The Cells of the Immune System
Photo from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Innate_Immune_cells.jpg

Osmosis Jones is the story of a white blood cell police officer, Ozzy, who teams up with a cold pill, Drix, to save Frank from a deadly virus. Of course being a children’s movie Osmosis Jones isn’t a completely accurate depiction of the human immune system, or body in general, but just how accurate is it?

In the movie the major conflict arises when Frank, the human, eats an unsanitary egg. On this egg lives the virus, Thrax, who is a deadly pathogen. So far the movie checks out. In the human immune system the first line of defense are barriers between the inside of the body and the outside world. Some of these barriers include the skin, mucus membranes, tears, saliva, sweat and stomach acid. In the movie the virus does penetrate one of these barriers, in this case the mouth, to enter the body. This is accurate to how a virus may enter the human body.

After this the movie becomes less and less accurate to how the human immune system functions. Although there is detection of a pathogen the only response Frank’s immune system has in the movie is through the use of the police force, the white blood cells. This is completely inaccurate to how the human body fights off a pathogen. When the body detects a pathogen (virus or bacteria) mast cells release histamines to dilate the blood vessels (this is never shown in the movie, especially because the blood vessels are shown as highways, but thats another matter altogether). The next step in the immune response is macrophages come and engulf infected and dead cells and they release cytokines that attract other immune cells to the area. Neutrophils and natural killer cells then kill the infected cells. The closest thing to this second line of defense is the police force and their communication. They have radios and ways to communicate to call for backup, although it is extremely inaccurate to the way the immune system really functions.

The third line of defense that the Human body uses is specific defense. This includes B and T cells and the steps taken to target the pathogen specifically and the infected cells. Through the processes of Cell-mediated response and Antibody-mediated response the immune system targets the infection and destroys it. Both of these processes are not depicted in the movie in any form. This along with the ending (don’t worry I won’t spoil it) are both inaccurate to anything that could happen in the human body.

So Osmosis Jones isn’t the most scientifically accurate movie of all time, but that doesn’t stop it from making a great movie. The inaccuracies in the film can be excused by the fact that it is a children’s movie and not a new theory about the immune system. I mean how many kids would want to sit though a movie that was 100% accurate? You would lose all of the car chases, the drama, the suspense, the mucus filled dams, and the explosions. Overall I really enjoy Osmosis Jones, although I don’t recommend using it to study for your next science test.

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: White Blood Cells

Does Exposure to Toxins In the Environment Affect One’s Offspring’s Immune System?

Killer Cells Caught Red-Handed!

New Breakthrough in Cancer Research

Osmosis Jones: Fact vs. Fiction

Archives