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A new study of influenza infection in an animal model broadens understanding of how the immune system responds to flu virus, showing that the process is more dynamic than usually described, engaging a broader array of biological pathways. The researchers say their findings may offer key insights for designing more effective vaccines in general.
"During infection, viral proteins are present throughout the cell, not just in the limited compartments that have been the focus of attention in classical immunology," said study leader Laurence C. Eisenlohr, Ph.D., a viral immunologist in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "By investigating how active infections interact with mechanisms deep inside immune cells, we can design vaccines with broader protection against invading pathogens."
The study appears online today in Nature Medicine. Before recently arriving at CHOP, Eisenlohr led this research at Thomas Jefferson University.
Conventional textbook approaches, said Eisenlohr, rely on laboratory studies of "nominal" antigens, usually in the form of purified proteins introduced into cell cultures. An antigen-presenting cell (APC) takes up the proteins and delivers them to a compartment inside itself called the endosome, where the proteins are digested ("processed") into peptides. Those peptides, displayed at the cell surface, stimulate CD4+ T cells, which are vitally important in the body's defense against most infectious agents.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-09-flu-infection-reveals-paths-immune.html
"During infection, viral proteins are present throughout the cell, not just in the limited compartments that have been the focus of attention in classical immunology," said study leader Laurence C. Eisenlohr, Ph.D., a viral immunologist in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "By investigating how active infections interact with mechanisms deep inside immune cells, we can design vaccines with broader protection against invading pathogens."
The study appears online today in Nature Medicine. Before recently arriving at CHOP, Eisenlohr led this research at Thomas Jefferson University.
Conventional textbook approaches, said Eisenlohr, rely on laboratory studies of "nominal" antigens, usually in the form of purified proteins introduced into cell cultures. An antigen-presenting cell (APC) takes up the proteins and delivers them to a compartment inside itself called the endosome, where the proteins are digested ("processed") into peptides. Those peptides, displayed at the cell surface, stimulate CD4+ T cells, which are vitally important in the body's defense against most infectious agents.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-09-flu-infection-reveals-paths-immune.html