Immunologic Memory Discovery Reported

ABOUT US

The researchers also demonstrated human myeloma cells, which are a form of cancerous cells arising from plasma cells, are also sensitive to FcgammaRIIb-induced self destruction. Thus, the scientists said, it might be possible to use FcgammaRIIb-targeted therapies to target both pathogenic autoantibody producing cells and myeloma (pictured).

by Staff Writers
UPI Correspondent
Cambridge (UPI) Feb 26, 2007
British scientists say they've discovered why people, as they age, develop so-called immunologic memory to newly encountered pathogens. Kenneth Smith and colleagues at the University of Cambridge found plasma cells, which make antibodies tailored for specific pathogens, express a protein called FcgammaRIIb on their surface, with older plasma cells expressing more of it than newly generated ones.

The study shows when FcgammaRIIb binds onto the older cells it triggers some cells to self destruct, thereby making space for the newly made plasma cells in the bone marrow where they can produce antibodies against recently encountered pathogens.

The authors suggested that plasma cell expression of that protein provides a feedback mechanism to limit the number of antibody-producing cells in the body.

The research appeared in last week's issue of the journal Nature Immunology.

Source: United Press International

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Efforts To Plug Indonesian Mud Volcano Resume Sending Out An SOS Russian Satellites Come To The Rescue Japan Launches Alert System For Tsunamis And Missiles Bid To Plug Indonesian Mud Volcano Delayed	CLIMATE SCIENCE Banning New Coal Power Plants Will Slow Warming Satellite Data Vital To UN Climate Findings Russia, Kyoto Protocol And Climate Change Global Warming Is Real But Not A Priority
EARTH OBSERVATION GeoEye Makes Final Debt Payment For The Purchase Of Space Imaging Gascom To Launch 4 Smotr Low-Orbit Remote Sensing Satellites Canada And US Launch Satellite Mapping Project Of North America Brazilian Satellite Undergoes Environmental Tests	ENERGY TECH Tiny High-Frequency Cryocooler Is Cold And Efficient Its Lights Out For Edison In California Australia To Clip Greenhouse Gas Emmissions With Phase Out Of Inefficient Lighting No Cheers In Carbon Market As Kyoto Protocol Heads For Second Birthday
EPIDEMICS Resistant TB Spreads In Africa E. Coli Bacteria Migrating Between Humans And Chimps In Ugandan Park Bird Flu Spreading In Central Russia Deadly Rain And Flooding In Bolivia Trigger Disease Surge	FLORA AND FAUNA Warming Climate And Cod Collapse Have Combined To Cause Rapid North Atlantic Ecosystem Lizards Shout Against A Noisy Background To Get Points Across Chimpanzees Found To Use Tools To Hunt Mammalian Prey St Petersburg Court Rejects Schoolgirl Suit Over Darwinism
FROTH AND BUBBLE Carnegie Mellon Researchers Study Harmful Particulates UN Forum Makes Limited Progress On Mercury Emissions NASA Probes Sources Of The Tiniest Pollutants EasyJet Chief Says Business Travellers Have Role In Saving Environment	ABOUT US Immunologic Memory Discovery Reported Birth Rate And Competition Were Major Reasons For Past Hominid Extinctions Clovis People Maybe Not First To Populate North America Team Takes First Deep Dive Into Molecular Machinery Of Human Brain

The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2005 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy statement