T-cells, Bee Cells
It seems like bees
have been all
over the news lately. Even if a story isn’t directly about them, it somehow
seems to find a way to relate. A recent story
from Newswise cited the similarities between honey bees and human T-cells,
which have apparently been taking some tips from the hive. When faced with a
potential threat, our immune cells organize and prepare in a distinctly similar
way to scavenging bees. Matthen Krummel, PhD, and researchers at UCSF, noted
that this behavior seems to have something to do with the beneficial effects of
vaccination.
According to Krummel, drones fly around looking for honey
and the head back and communicate -- through “a dance,” no less -- the location
to the rest of the nest. After which, they determine the best source and coordinate
an approach. T-cells, on the other hand, snoop around the body’s lymph system,
analyzing “foreign matter, such as vaccines, bacteria or viruses.” The cells
then gather and communicate during a “critical differentiation period” inside
of a day after the initial exposure – which I imagine must also be a fairly informative
dance party.
“They cluster together for the purpose of sharing
information, transmitting what they’ve discovered about the new pathogen or
vaccine,” said Krummel. “Which in turn helps the immune system mount a
coordinated response to the foreign matter.”
During these critical differentiation periods, the
information collected is stored in a “’memory pool,’ the mechanism by which the
immune system recognizes a pathogen to which it has been exposed to months or
years previously.” This allows things like vaccinations, which are quickly dealt
with upon entering the body, essentially to be catalogued. If the pathogen ever
re-enters the body, the immune system will already have a defense prepared.
“Without that long-term memory, vaccines would be useless,”
continued Krummel in the Newswise article. “The body wouldn’t remember that it
had been exposed to a particular pathogen, such as measles or diphtheria, and
would not know how to successfully fight it off.”
As laboratorians, the inner workings of the human body can
become routine -- just another day at work, really. The human immune system is
something that medical professionals have been basing whole treatment options
on for years. The broader knowledge of our cellular habits not only brings everything
a little closer to home, but allows us to appreciate and better understand those
treatments.