memory T cells tagged posts

Scientists have long known that diet shapes the immune system. Now, a UC San Francisco team has found that even a brief dietary change can substantially change how the body responds to skin irritation, at least in mice.

When scientists fed mice a high-fat diet for just a few days, the mice had a much worse reaction to an irritating cream. And the skin stayed on alert even after the mice returned to a low-fat diet and the inflammation cleared, responding more strongly the next time it was exposed to the cream.

The findings suggest that short-term diet may have just as much an effect as body weight when it comes to inflammation.

“Long-term dietary habits absolutely matter for health, but our study ...

The cornea—the transparent protective outer layer of the eye critical to helping us see—produces a delicate and limited immune response to fight infections without damaging our vision, according to a new study from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute).

Published today in Cell Reports, the study has shown long-living memory T cells that patrol and fight viral infections are present in the cornea, upending current thought that T cells are not found in healthy corneas—expanding our understanding of the eye’s immune response to infections.

The team used a multiphoton microscope that provides live images of living, intact biological tissues to study cornea cells in mice infected with Herpes Simplex Virus.

Their images revealed long-livin...