Sentences with phrase «tuft cells»
Tuft cells are a type of cells found in our bodies. They have small hair-like projections called tufts on their surface. They play important roles in our immune system and help us detect and defend against harmful substances like parasites. Full definition
Treating the mice with a powerful broad - spectrum antibiotic cocktail decreased the number of tuft cells and the risk of norovirus infection.
sciencedaily.com
If norovirus also targets tuft cells in humans, «maybe that's the cell type we need to be treating,» says study coauthor Craig Wilen, a physician scientist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The finding that norovirus targets tuft cells fits with previous research on the virus and other pathogens.
In mice, norovirus infects rare cells in the lining of the gut called tuft cells.
Identifying a role for tuft cells in the interactions between the virus and its host «is a significant step forward,» says immunologist David Artis of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, who was not involved in the study.
The research, published April 12 in Science, suggests that targeting tuft cells with a vaccine or a drug may be a viable strategy for preventing or treating norovirus infections.
THE WINNER IS... In mice, norovirus invades tuft cells (the two bright green spots) in the lining of the small intestine (left) and the colon (right).
The researchers, including Herbert W. «Skip» Virgin, MD, PhD, now at Vir Biotechnology, also noted that noroviruses tucked inside tuft cells are effectively hidden from the immune system, which could explain why some people continue to shed virus long after they are no longer sick.
Tropism for tuft cells determines immune promotion of norovirus pathogenesis.
While tuft cells are few in number, the scientists» findings indicate that once the virus strikes, such cells multiply the virus quickly and set off severe infections.
Having more tuft cells seems to be «good for the virus,» Wilen says.
For instance, the team uncovered a new type of chemical - sensing tuft cell (which helps alert the immune system to infection or other forms of injury) that displayed markers previously thought to be exclusive to immune cells and which may help sound the alarm about allergens and invading parasites.
The red arrows indicate tuft cells embedded in the epithelium.
And since the gut microbiome plays a role in regulating tuft cells, this a rare case of antibiotics being able to impact a viral disease.
A single tuft cell in the epithelium.
Intestinal epithelial tuft cells initiate type 2 mucosal immunity helminth parasites.
In the new study, Wilen and colleagues found that knocking out the bacteria with antibiotics decreased the genetic activity of tuft cells.
«If that's the case, targeting tuft cells may be an important strategy to eradicate the virus.»
Certain cell types significantly increased (e.g., mature enterocytes and Paneth cells in the Salmonella model, goblet and tuft cells in helminth model) or declined (e.g., stem cells in Salmonella infection, enterocytes in helminth infection) in abundance depending on the kind of infectious insult.
Tuft cells are a type of epithelial cell that protrudes into the intestine.
Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown, in mice, that the virus infects a rare type of intestinal cell called a tuft cell, so named because each cell sports a cluster of hairlike extensions on its surface.
«This raises important questions about whether human norovirus infects tuft cells and whether people who have chronic norovirus infections and continue to shed the virus long after infection do so because the virus remains hidden in tuft cells,» Wilen said.
The new study indicates that such infections in the mice cause the number of tuft cells to increase by five - to tenfold, leading the norovirus to replicate more efficiently.
And tuft cells are known to increase in number during these parasite infections.
The tuft cells - norovirus connection may prove fruitful for research into inflammatory bowel disease as well.
They used that clue to uncover the role of the tuft cells, which have recently been tied to a certain type of immune response.
It thus finally became possible for the scientists to observe and measure the activity of the tufted cells under the microscope.
Since that time, the fruit fly research community has been speculating about whether these «two - tufted cells» described by Cajal are the mysterious elementary motion detectors.
As further experiments have shown, the tufted cells can be divided into two groups.
The answer to this question has been slow in coming, as the tufted cells are extremely small — much too small for sticking an electrode into them and capturing their electrical signals.
«We were surprised to see that expression of the gene TSLP — which encodes a cytokine long known to be involved in epithelial - induced inflammation — was exclusive to a particular subset of tuft cells,» Haber noted.
Within the data, the team pinpointed expression signatures specific to known cell types (e.g., enterocytes, goblet cells, Paneth cells, tuft cells), specific cell subtypes or populations (e.g., enterocytes at different stages of maturation), and rare cell types (e.g., M cells).
As expected, the MNoV infected the mice, but only the tuft cells.
According to Dr. Craig B. Wilen and colleagues, a rare cell called a tuft cell, found in the small intestine, provides the virus with a place to replicate as well as serving as a reservoir that causes some people to remain contagious weeks after they feel better.
The role of the tuft cell is the essence of this discovery.
The authors speculate that treatment of the mice with broad - spectrum antibiotics would kill multiple pathogens in the gut and alter the biome so that the proliferation of the tuft cells would be prevented.