Summary
Scientists are one step closer to understanding how your immune system targets and fights diseases, ScienceDaily reports.
Original source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050803064859.htm
Details
Those few, triggering protein fragments are termed "immunodominant."
Unfortunately, the immune system sometimes makes poor choices about which epitopes to pay attention to, and which to ignore.
Understanding of how immunodominance is conferred would enable vaccine designers to shift the immune system spotlight to parts of pathogens that they cannot change in efforts to escape detection.
For example, a vaccine could be designed to target a protein fragment central to a virus's ability to reproduce, or to invade its prey.
As part of the immune response, T cells, one type of white blood cell, partner with dendritic cells to make careful decisions about which pieces of pathogens will trigger a full-scale immune attack.
Upon encountering an invader, a dendritic cell will "swallow it," cut it up, and carry the pieces to the nearest lymph node.
Once in the lymph node, major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) proteins inside the dendritic cell present immunodominant epitopes on the cell's surface for consideration by T cells gathered there.
Once activated by high enough levels of target epitope for long enough periods of time, T cells become armed and capable of destroying the pathogen in question.
Kinetic stability determines whether, in the face of competing reactions within the immune system, an epitope:Mhc complex can remain intact on the dendritic cell surface long enough to demand T cell attention.
Sant's team found that immunodominant peptides were likely to stay bound to Mhc molecules for an average of 150 hours, where nondominant epitopes held on for less than 10 hours.
"What's exciting is that kinetic stability is determined by how tightly an epitope fits into the Mhc protein, and we can control that fit with standard techniques," Sant said.
If confirmed, this discovery will bring immundominance and a major portion of the
immune system under our control for the first time."
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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Monday, August 15, 2005
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