(Press-News.org) ITHACA, N.Y. – Scientists have long believed that a newborn’s immune system was an immature version of an adult’s, but new research from Cornell University shows that newborns’ T cells – white blood cells that protect from disease – outperform those of adults at fighting off numerous infections.
These results help clarify why adults and infants respond differently to infections and pave the way for controlling T cells’ behavior for therapeutic applications.
This discovery was described in a paper published in Science Immunology on Feb. 23, co-led by Brian Rudd, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and Andrew Grimson, professor of molecular biology and genetics.
For example, adult T cells outperform newborn T cells at tasks including recognizing antigens, forming immunological memory and responding to repeat infections, which has led to the belief that infant’s T cells were just a weaker version of the adult ones. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, many were surprised by the apparent lack of illness in infants, bringing this long-standing belief into question.
Interested in understanding these age-related differences, Rudd and Grimson discovered that newborn T cells are not deficient: Instead, they are involved in a part of the immune system that does not require antigen recognition: the innate arm of the immune system. While adults T cells use adaptive immunity – recognizing specific germs to then fight them later – newborn T cells are activated by proteins associated with innate immunity, the part of the immune system that offers rapid but nonspecific protection against microbes the body has never encountered.
“Our paper demonstrates that neonatal T cells are not impaired, they are just different than adult T cells and these differences likely reflect the type of functions that are most useful to the host at distinct stages of life,” Rudd said.
Neonatal T cells can participate in the innate arm of the immune system. This enables newborn T cells to do something that most adult T cells cannot: respond during the very first stages of an infection and defend against a wide variety of unknown bacteria, parasites and viruses.
“We know that neonatal T cells don’t protect as well as adult T cells against repeat infections with the same pathogen. But neonatal T cells actually have an enhanced ability to protect the host against early stages of an initial infection,” Rudd said. “So, it is not possible to say adult T cells are better than neonatal T cells or neonatal T cells are better than adult T cells. They just have different functions.”
Following up on his discovery, Rudd wants to study the neonatal T cells that persist into adulthood in humans. “We are also interested in studying how changes in the relative numbers of neonatal T cells in adults contributes to variation in the susceptibility to infection and outcomes to disease,” he said.
This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in the National Institutes of Health.
Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews.
-30-
END
Babies use immune system differently, but efficiently
2024-02-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Cloud clustering causes more extreme rain
2024-02-23
Understanding cloud patterns in our changing climate is essential to making accurate predictions about their impact on society and nature. Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology published a new study in the journal Science Advances that uses a high-resolution global climate model to understand how the clustering of clouds and storms impacts rainfall extremes in the tropics. They show that with rising temperatures, the severity of extreme precipitation events increases.
Extreme ...
Mindfulness at work protects against stress and burnout
2024-02-23
A new study has revealed that employees who are more mindful in the digital workplace are better protected against stress, anxiety and overload.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham’s Schools of Psychology and Medicine analysed survey data from 142 employees. The results have been published today in PLOS ONE.
PhD student Elizabeth Marsh from the School of Psychology led the mixed methods study and said: “As work is increasingly mediated by digital technology we wanted to find out the impact this is having on people’s health and whether there are ways to mitigate this. We found that being mindfully and confidently digital should be considered important elements ...
Scientists closer to solving mysteries of universe after measuring gravity in quantum world
2024-02-23
Scientists are a step closer to unravelling the mysterious forces of the universe after working out how to measure gravity on a microscopic level.
Experts have never fully understood how the force which was discovered by Isaac Newton works in the tiny quantum world.
Even Einstein was baffled by quantum gravity and, in his theory of general relativity, said there is no realistic experiment which could show a quantum version of gravity.
But now physicists at the University of Southampton, working with scientists in Europe, have ...
Revolutionary brain stimulation technique shows promise for treating brain disorders
2024-02-23
The human brain's adaptability to internal and external changes, known as neural plasticity, forms the foundation for understanding cognitive functions like memory and learning, as well as various neurological disorders. New research conducted by a team led by Dr. PARK Joo Min of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) unveils a novel technique that could transform the treatment landscape for brain disorders. The team developed a non-invasive brain stimulation method called Patterned Low-Intensity Low-Frequency Ultrasound (LILFUS), which holds tremendous potential for inducing long-lasting changes ...
Global warming increases the diversity of active soil bacteria
2024-02-23
Warmer soils harbour a greater diversity of active microbes, according to a new study from researchers at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna. The study, published in Science Advances, represents a significant shift in our understanding of how microbial activity in the soil influences the global carbon cycle and possible feedback mechanisms on the climate. Until now, scientists have assumed that higher soil temperatures accelerate the growth of microbes, thus increasing the release of carbon into the atmosphere. However, this increased ...
Patient mindset training helps care teams
2024-02-23
A new study from Stanford University, published Jan. 19 in Patient Education and Counseling, evaluates the effectiveness of patient mindset training on provider learning and behavior.
Past research shows that what patients think, believe, or expect regarding medical care can influence care outcomes. Patients also have better outcomes when they have more adaptive mindsets about their treatments (e.g., “this treatment will be effective”), their bodies (e.g., “my body is capable”), their illnesses (e.g. “diabetes is manageable”), and their care team (e.g., “I am in good hands”). ...
Dual-energy harvesting device could power future wireless medical implants
2024-02-23
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Implantable biomedical devices — like pacemakers, insulin pumps and neurostimulators — are becoming smaller and utilizing wireless technology, but hurdles remain for powering the next-generation implants. A new wireless charging device developed by Penn State scientists could dramatically improve powering capability for implants while still being safe for our bodies, the researchers said.
The new device can harvest energy from magnetic field and ultrasound sources simultaneously, converting this energy to electricity to power implants, the scientists reported in the journal Energy & Environmental ...
Study: ‘Hexaplex’ vaccine aims to boost flu protection
2024-02-23
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Recombinant protein vaccines, like the Novavax vaccine used to fight COVID-19, offer several advantages over conventional vaccines.
They’re easy to precisely produce. They’re safe, and potentially more effective. And they could require smaller doses.
Because of these traits, there is much interest in developing recombinant influenza vaccines. To date, however, the Food and Drug Administration has approved only one such vaccine.
A University at Bufalo-led research team hopes to add to that number. It is developing a new recombinant flu vaccine – described ...
New structural insights could lead to mechanical enhancement in alloys
2024-02-23
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new class of metallic materials with potential applications in airplane turbines, nuclear reactors and equipment for space exploration can withstand extreme temperatures and resist fractures, but scientists haven’t understood why until now. According to a new study co-led by Penn State researchers, the answer could relate to the material’s short-range order, or the local arrangement of atoms within a material. This knowledge could lead to further improvement in the mechanical performance and damage tolerance of these materials, the researchers said, leading in turn to advancements in the safety and reliability of next-generation ...
New research challenges conventional picture of Parkinson's disease
2024-02-23
Parkinson's disease, the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's disease, affects nearly 1 million people in the U.S. and an estimated 10 million individuals worldwide. Each year, close to 90,000 new cases of Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed in the U.S.
In a new study, Jeffrey Kordower, director of the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, and his colleagues unveil pivotal insights into the progression of Parkinson's disease, presenting new hope for patients battling the severely debilitating disorder.
The research highlights the role of a critical protein called tau in the early stages of the ...