#immunology

[simplykaren]

Found this because of @sanddoc06 . No clue where it originally came from, but I had to share it.

[reasonsforhope]

"A cure for HIV could be a step closer after researchers found a new way to force the virus out of hiding inside human cells.

The virus’s ability to conceal itself inside certain white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. It means there is a reservoir of the HIV in the body, capable of reactivation, that neither the immune system nor drugs can tackle.

Now researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, have demonstrated a way to make the virus visible, paving the way to fully clear it from the body.

It is based on mRNA technology, which came to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic when it was used in vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.

In a paper published in Nature Communications, the researchers have shown for the first time that mRNA can be delivered into the cells where HIV is hiding, by encasing it in a tiny, specially formulated fat bubble. The mRNA then instructs the cells to reveal the virus.

Globally, there are almost 40 million people living with HIV, who must take medication for the rest of their lives in order to suppress the virus and ensure they do not develop symptoms or transmit it. For many it remains deadly, with UNAids figures suggesting one person died of HIV every minute in 2023.

It was “previously thought impossible” to deliver mRNA to the type of white blood cell that is home to HIV, said Dr Paula Cevaal, research fellow at the Doherty Institute and co-first author of the study, because those cells did not take up the fat bubbles, or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), used to carry it.

The team have developed a new type of LNP that those cells will accept, known as LNP X. She said: “Our hope is that this new nanoparticle design could be a new pathway to an HIV cure.”

When a colleague first presented test results at the lab’s weekly meeting, Cevaal said, they seemed too good to be true.

“We sent her back into the lab to repeat it, and she came back the next week with results that were equally good. So we had to believe it. And of course, since then, we’ve repeated it many, many, many more times.

“We were overwhelmed by how [much of a] night and day difference it was – from not working before, and then all of a sudden it was working. And all of us were just sitting gasping like, ‘wow’.”

Further research will be needed to determine whether revealing the virus is enough to allow the body’s immune system to deal with it, or whether the technology will need to be combined with other therapies to eliminate HIV from the body.

The study is laboratory based and was carried out in cells donated by HIV patients. The path to using the technology as part of a cure for patients is long, and would require successful tests in animals followed by safety trials in humans, likely to take years, before efficacy trials could even begin.

“In the field of biomedicine, many things eventually don’t make it into the clinic – that is the unfortunate truth; I don’t want to paint a prettier picture than what is the reality,” stressed Cevaal. “But in terms of specifically the field of HIV cure, we have never seen anything close to as good as what we are seeing, in terms of how well we are able to reveal this virus.

“So from that point of view, we’re very hopeful that we are also able to see this type of response in an animal, and that we could eventually do this in humans.”

Dr Michael Roche of the University of Melbourne and co-senior author of the research, said the discovery could have broader implications beyond HIV, with the relevant white blood cells also involved in other diseases including cancers.

Dr Jonathan Stoye, a retrovirologist and emeritus scientist at the Francis Crick Institute, who was not involved in the study, said the approach taken by the Melbourne team appeared be a major advance on existing strategies to force the virus out of hiding, but further studies would be needed to determine how best to kill it after that.

He added: “Ultimately, one big unknown remains. Do you need to eliminate the entire reservoir for success or just the major part? If just 10% of the latent reservoir survives will that be sufficient to seed new infection? Only time will tell.

“However, that does not detract from the significance of the current study, which represents a major potential advance in delivery of mRNA for therapeutic purposes to blood cells.”"

-via The Guardian, June 5, 2025

[mindblowingscience]

Playing through the greenery and litter of a mini forest's undergrowth for just one month may be enough to change a child's immune system, according to an experiment in Finland. When daycare workers rolled out a lawn, planted forest undergrowth (such as dwarf heather and blueberries), and allowed children to care for crops in planter boxes, the diversity of microbes in the guts and on the skin of the young kids appeared healthier in a very short space of time. Compared to other city kids who play in standard urban daycares with yards of pavement, tile, and gravel, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds at these greened-up daycare centers in Finland showed increased T-cells and other important immune markers in their blood within 28 days.

Continue Reading.

[unveilandresist]

Got a glimpse of where we're at as a country medically via the r/nursing subreddit. People are really not okay and it's deeply scary. 'Letting it rip' when it comes to covid is killing thousands and disabling millions. With the latter, here's what it looks like:

Nurses saying they are seeing ear infections in kids all the time secondary to other illnesses (or routinely in adults which they have never seen before), nurses saying their hospitals are overrun by flus, rsv, norovirus, mycoplasma pneumonia. many people saying they went to the doctor sick as a dog and came out with 3 different illness diagnoses at the same time or that they and their kids get sick over and over and over. it is not normal for this to happen. we were lied to about covid, y'all.

have you and the people around you been physically as well this last year or two as they were in 2019?

If you didn't know, as a lot of people don't - covid makes you immunocompromised. It damages the immune system, blood vessels and organ systems. It's a vascular infection, not a cold. the more infections you get, the worse it is. In the lab it's considered a level 3 pathogen (categories are for risk level/safety protocols), in the same category as tuberculosis. People are being treated with IVIG, because it's for immunocompromised people.

Also there is improper preparation and tracking for a h5n1 (type of bird flu) that has a very real chance of evolving to become a pandemic this and/or next flu season. they are finding it in wastewater all over the country, someone in Louisiana is in critical condition with it. Flu vaccine provides partial protection to it so I'd highly recommend getting that this and next winter.

Following epidemiologists is really important and helpful. The government wants you to go to work and think things are normal so they don't have to send you another check - they are not invested in our collective wellness (in fact, they take tons of lobbying money from insurance companies invested in keeping you sick). With some of these folks saying it is taking them weeks to recover from the flu, I wonder if some of it isn't bird flu, though it could be just being significantly immunocompromised.

fwiw masks work. I haven't gotten as much as a cold in years. well fitting kn95s and n95s protect you. even if you can't wear one at work, wear one to the doctor, at the grocery store and pharmacy. it would really help disabled people in general too.

[unbfacts]

A team of researchers has developed a vaccine targeting the tau protein, associated with Alzheimer’s disease, showing robust immune responses in mice and non-human primates. Encouraged by these promising results, they are now seeking funding to launch human clinical trials.

[0ctogus]

every once in a while scientists cook so hard when making names

[secondwheel]

The opposite of antibiotic is...

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

[juniebugs]

using batfam characters to explain innate immunity :)

i have an exam in a week so i'm projecting my lack of knowledge onto my comfort characters

aka describing immunology through superheroes because i have an illness no part of my immune system can save.

listen. i don't think there's an audience for this. i don't know why there would be. but i'm studying bioengineering and have a special interest in superheroes.... sooooo.......

OTHER SIMILAR POSTS THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL TO UNDERSTAND MY MADNESS:

for more general immunology definitions to actually understand my nonsense pls go here

for me utilizing marvel characters to describe adaptive immunity pls go here.

just a heads up: i'm using innate = batfam and adaptive = marvel knowledge but they do overlap so just y'know be prepared. this is a lot of text but it should should be scientifically accurate or at least not horribly wrong.

also hindsight tells me the emojis give chatgpt but generative ai is incapable of coming up with the level of insanity finals season gives dw folks this is all genuine madness.

FIRST LAYER OF DEFENSE (INNATE / BATFAMILY)

The first line of defense is the surface barriers, this is like the basic weapons that all the vigilantes would have.

🧍‍♂️SKIN == Batcave

It consists of many layers of closely packed, keratinized cells (mmm stratum corneum my fav) and is very hard for bacteria to get through (batman is the only baddie in the batcave). Skin sheds periodically (we love dust) which removes microbes from the surface. Think of Alfred shooing unwanted guests…. With force if need be.

🦠MUCOUS == Batarangs

mmm mucous love. They both trap the baddies and operate through specialized movements. While the batman clan would be like doing some cool training moves idk that mucous is like

Coughing /sneezing

Or the even more exciting

Swallowing.

Woooo. But the general idea remains. Specialized movements, but very general (all family members would use them).

👩HAIRS == Grappling Lines

I don’t know if you have ever watched the hit antimated film batman: under the red hood but batman is fitting the red hood and uses the grappling line to trap him and he gets out which is how (partially) they figure out the red hood is Jason todd. Lore.

ANYWAY like the grappling lines, hair traps and filters the baddies (microbes). 🚗CILIA == Batmobile

Cilia are hair like microscopic projections on epithelial surface. They wave and propels the movement mucous ejecting or destroying pathogens

Kind how like how the batmobile whips b-man supreme around gotham with his scary equipment and then will bring the baddies to Gordon. Wild stuff here. 🥹TEARS == Smoke Pellets

Have you ever felt emo? Yeah, me too. We were all twelve once. When you cry to my chemical romance– or more specifically to spraying your side-part’s hairspray in your eyes- you are clearing and draining irritants.

Continual doing of this keeps the microbes from settling.

For a batman analogy because im committed to the bit:

Think like the smoke pellets. B-man supreme uses these to let him escape, often taking the baddies with him.

🧫ENZYMES (Lysozyme) == EMP Devices

Bro enzymes are sick. Lets talk about lysozyme. This enzyme breaks down cell walls of certain bacteria and can appear in tears saliva, sweat, and other secretions.

In batman, he has this sick device called a EMP device that breaks down electronics (cell walls) and can be used in conjunction to other methods.

🧼BODILY FLUIDS == Utility Belt

Okay so we’re goopy gooey guys. But this is a strength. Our goop is versatile. Our bodily fluids (mmm) is like batman utility belt. Depending on location, circumstance, or even vigilante the tools may vary but generally their training is similar.

Okay queens we did the first layer of defense and now it’s the second layer of defense.

---------------------------------- SECOND LAYER OF DEFENSE (INNATE / BATFAMILY)

If weapons don’t work its fist to fist, vigilante versus baddie time. Okay so we are starting off with some sexy antimicrobial proteins.

🚨INTERFERONS == GOTHAM PUBLIC

First lets look at interferons. Interferons are like the general gotham population these are small secreted proteins which interfere with viral replication.

Like if a baddie was just chilling on gotham these guys would call up the vigilante homies. Probably like ‘two face is out again and not a new make-up release get your ass over here batman’ and that would be that. 🛰 COMPLEMENT SYSTEM == JUSTICE LEAGUE

The complement system is a collection of >30 plasma proteins that ‘complement’ the antibacterial activity in the body. They are essentially someone you call in when you need a helping hand – like the just league!!! 🤓IRON-BINDING PROTEINS == TIM DRAKE

Timerson drakerson is like iron-binding proteins. He breaks in slow silent and gets the job DONE. He is essentially like a sneaky dude that prevents bacteria (baddies) from growing (hacking into the mainframe *nerd emoji*).

Not featured in their own category is other antimicrobial proteins. Those could be like the police ringing out big bird to kick ass. 😡NATURAL KILLER CELLS == JASON TODD

RED HOOD JASON TODD IS A NATURAL KILLER (NK) CELL THIS IS HOW THIS WHOLE IDEA STARTED.

Okokok natural killer cells prowl. They are looking for cells out of place, lacking inhibition receptors etc. This is like hood prowling crime alley looking over the baddies and seeing if anything is out of place.

He is unique (quirky) and does his own thing. While a part of the innate immune system (batfamily) he is kind of operating by his own direction.

Is a straight forward killer.

Perforin -> breaking in, getting the info he needs

Granzyme -> his guns baybeee pew pew they’re dead.

IFN gamma and TFN alpha are pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting viral infections and are like notes he leaves behind. ominously. idk this might be stretch but roll w it. ⚖️PHAGOCYTOSIS == BATMAN'S PROCESS

Batman has a clear methodology and follows a clear and consistent order. His methods could be compared to phagocytosis if you're gigabrained like me. or mentally ill. idk

1.) CHEMOTAXIS -> cells are chemically stimulated to move to the site of damage or infection. This is like the batsignal. Batman gets called to an area of crime and moves fast. 2.) ADHERENCE -> This is attachment of the phagocyte to the microbe. ORRRR big bat finding the sneaky baddie and locking them downnnnn  3.) INGESTION -> phagocyte forms pseudopods forming the phagosome noming the particles. Aka baddies tied and dragged away for interrogation. 4.) DIGESTION -> Phagosome fuses with a lysosome containing digestive enzyme. PLOT TWIST commissioner Gordon is in on this. Its interrogation time babybeee 5.) KILLING -> batman doesn’t kill, but he does let the law (lysosome) handle things where need be.

there are also a few types of cells that can be phagocytes.

🐦NEUTROPHILS == ROBINS

Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocyte. think about how many robins theres been. so many. Neutrophils become phagocytic they encounter infectious material (brucie wayne, or other trauma in their lives). 1st to move from blood to tissue during inflammation (speedy lil guys). Also a major component of pus. I don’t think I want an analogy for that fact tbhs

Also neutrophils can kick the bucket pretty quick. Cough cough Jason cough cough m 🐦‍⬛MONOCYTES / MACROPHAGES == DICK GRAYSON / NIGHTWING

Okay next up is dick grayson or nightwing/

The first robin, he eventually matured into his own hero name as he got older. Monocytes are circulated in the blood like he does bludhaven awhhhh yeah easy remembering until he gets to the tissues that are inflamed.  In the tissues, he matures into macrophages (becomes less silly goofy) and can become who is needed in the moment. New batman for a comic run? Sure np.

So monocytes -> dick grayson, silly goofy, paying attention in case he’s needed.

Macrophages -> nightwing. Ready to lead, fight hard. Ready to take ass and kick names. 🪄BACK TO PHAGOCYTOSIS FOR A PHAT SEC !!!!!

How does the batfamily even know who the baddies (pathogens) are.???

The are using PRRs or pattern recognition receptors to ‘see’ pathogen-associated molecular patterns or PAMPS

Think of it as having the batcomputer (PRR) to collect data (PAMP)

PRR are receptors for common bacterial components. So when it binds to a PAMP (a hit on the system) batman and the family knows to act.  Secrete pro-inflammatory cytokins and begin phagocytosis 📌DENDRITIC CELLS == BARBARA GORDON (ORACLE)

Okay last major phagocyte we’re talking about, and one of the most important, are dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells are highly specialized, residents of tissues, and antigen presenting. These link the innate and adaptive immune responses. They use the PRR to recognize and phagocytose pathogens in the tissues.

Barbara was previously batgirl, so has a lot of insights, but has become oracle since her injury. Now she manages the batfamily and tells them where and when to act. (utilizing the batcomputer or PRR).

Travel to lymph nodes to present pathogenic antigens to T cells. OKAY t cells are not technically innate so by my predetermined analogy of innate == batfam // adaptive == marvel this analogy kind falls apart but.

SHE ESSENTIALLY CALLS FOR RECRUITMENTS JUST LIKE INTERDIMENSIONALLY. So then the marvel characters can respond.

-----------------------------------

ROLE PLAY TIME!!!!!!!!! (LET LEARN ABOUT INFLAMMATION & FEVERS)

Oh no!!!! There’s an attack on gotham!!! But gotham is metaphorical so I secretly mean your body. Rip. But not really rip. Because your innate immune system is on their way.

Lets call this response inflammation (oooooo)

Its nonspecific. This crime doesn’t have to be insane for a vigilante to respond. They’re always trying to help. But inflammation is acting as a big fat cry for help (batsignal of sorts).

It tells the vigilantes to deliver the molecules to help, prevent damage from spreading, and prepare the site for repair.

There’s a few main stages it goes through

Initial response!!! 😳

Damaged cells (citizens of gotham) signal that something has gone wrong. This is like a chemical alarm or a bat signal. And mediators are recleased.

PRR and resident macrophages get activated. Akaaaaa bat signal tells bat computer (likely through oracle) to get up and at them. So its go time to release all the vigilantes (cytokines & chemokines)

ALFRED THE LEGEND is the resident mast cells releasing potent inflammatory mediators (responses to the crime)

Contribute a lot but especially to vasodilation & permability of blood vessels aka getting them there asap. Immune cells emigrate by the mediators (alfreds) direction Aka there’s increased vascular diameter, blood flow, they can move fast. Reduction in blood flow velocity -> gotham pauses so they can get through. Increased vascular permability -> all heros get in through any means necessary

They get through the tissue (phagocytosis, chemotaxis -> aka NEEDING a batsignal or a means of identifying where they need to go)

And then clot microvessels -> build up barriers to prevent as much damaged as possible,

First to the scene are the robins (neutrophils) and then monocytes (nightwing, batman, etc)

How did they even get there bro wtf? 🤠

Theres a few different steps to their movement.

1.) ROLLING ADHESION akaaaaa robin has a tracker in the costume and starts running. 2.) TIGHT BINDING aka grappling hooks attaching to building in gothan 3.) EXTRAVASATION / DIAPEDESIS aka cell / vigilante crosses into the rougher neighbourhood where this action is happening. Breaking through so others can follow 4.) MIGRATION the older more experience macrophages (nightwing, batman) recruits the robins and slide through a chemokine gradient.

What does inflammation even look like? 🥵

Gotham has learned to identify when something is going downnnn

1.) redness (rubor) -> the city has cleared out for these guys

2.) heat (calor) -> its getting intense, and you can feel it

3.) swelling (tumor) -> as a response to one crime, other criminals want to act

4.) pain (dolor) -> sometimes citizens get hurt, but their focus prevents crime from spreading in some cases.

from here there's some wonderful skin healing but i'm not tested on it and my notes are long enough sooooo

FEVER == ARKHAM BREAKOUT🤧

Sometimes shit goes down and it needs a bigger response.

A fever is an abnormally high body temperature as a response to invading microganisms.

When Arkham criminals breakout, the batfam becomes more ruthless especially the macrophages (nightwing, batman) instead releasing their pyrogens.

If they can manage themselves then all is okay, and we’ll be okay

If they can’t (i.e. too high of a fever) than it is can be very dangerous and they might go too far. ---------------------------------------------

HOLY SHIT WE'RE DONE INNATE THIS WAS SO INTENSE.

so this means its the end of the batfam except i made babs dendritic cells so she'll be back. which is chill i love her. ANYWAY

if you want to read adaptive immunity marvel info click here. i hope this helps one poor nerd on their bio test. im a provider.

[reasonsforhope]

"A new study evaluated a low-cost yet effective way to combat bacterial resistance using curcumin–the natural yellow plant compound in turmeric.

In 2017, a tragic death in a Nevada hospital was linked to a new strain of bacteria that had developed a resistance to 26 different antibiotics. Called ‘superbugs’, such antibiotic-resistant bacteria (including MRSA) remains a pressing public health threat.

Now researchers at Texas A&M University have shown that curcumin, the compound that gives turmeric its characteristic bright yellow color, can be used to reduce this antibiotic resistance.

They showed that when curcumin is intentionally given to bacteria as food, and then activated by light, it can trigger deleterious reactions within these microbes, eventually killing them. They demonstrated that this process reduces the number of antibiotic-resistant strains and renders conventional antibiotics effective again.

The results of the study were published this week in the journal Scientific Reports.

“We need alternative ways to either kill the superbugs or find a novel way to modify natural processes within the bacteria so that antibiotics start to act again,” said Dr. Vanderlei Bagnato, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and senior author on the study.

Photodynamic inactivation, a technique that has shown promise in combating bacterial resistance, uses light and light-sensitive molecules, called photosensitizers, to produce reactive oxygen species that can kill microorganisms by disrupting their metabolic processes.

In the new experiments, the team used curcumin, which is also a natural food for bacteria. They tested this technique on strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that are resistant to amoxicillin, erythromycin, and gentamicin.

The researchers exposed the bacteria to many cycles of light exposure and then compared the minimum concentration of antibiotics needed to kill the bacteria after light exposure versus those that did not get light exposure.

“When we have a mixed population of bacteria where some are resistant, we can use photodynamic inactivation to narrow the bacterial distribution, leaving behind strains that are more or less similar in their response to antibiotics,” Bagnato told Texas A&M News.

“It’s much easier now to predict the precise antibiotic dose needed to remove the infection.”

MORE PROGRESS ON SUPERBUGS: • The Humble Potato Could Hold Key to Beating Hospital Superbugs and Crop Diseases • Compounds in Amber Could Help Fight Drug-Resistant Bacteria Superbugs, Say Scientists • When Antibiotics Failed, She Found a Natural Enemy of the Superbug to Save Husband’s Life

The team noted that photodynamic inactivation using curcumin has tremendous potential as an adjuvant or additional therapy with antibiotics for diseases, like pneumonia, caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“Photodynamic inactivation offers a cost-effective treatment option, which is crucial for reducing medical expenses not only in developing countries but also in the United States,” said Dr. Vladislav Yakovlev, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and author on the study..."

-via Good News Network, February 8, 2025

[mindblowingscience]

Dementia cases are on the rise around the world. In 2021, 57 million people were living with one of the neurodegenerative diseases under the dementia umbrella, and by 2050, that number is expected to reach 153 million. But a new study suggests the tides may be turning, with younger generations facing lower risks for the disease as they age.

Continue Reading.

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

support our troops (neutrophils, macrophages, nk cells, b cells, t cells, dendritic cells, other cells of the immune system)!!!!!!

[neuroandhemo]

macrophage design without any receptors..,

their name is macro

[secondwheel]

Phagocytosis

[tranquilsanatorium]