I found an interesting article that talked about the method of infection by the intestinal parasite H. polygyrus. When it infects a host it releases a mimic of TGFB, this cytokine is fundamental in the development of T regulatory cells. The idea here is that to avoid the hosts defenses that are bent on destroying the parasite it releases this mimic cytokine to promote the one inflammatory cell that can “help” them, the Treg. By promoting the Tregs the surrounding environment is much friendlier because the other T helper lines are told to stand down. The researchers tested to see it if was similar enough to human TGFB by running an ELISA, but nothing was found showing two things. It is created by non host and it is not simply the parasite accumulating the cytokine from the periphery and releasing it in bulk. They also analyzed the effect of the mimic on the SMAD 2/3 pathway and it showed activation on the pathway showing that it is a viable mimic that binds the receptors. Also when they brought down the ability for the mouse to respond to the TGFB the burden load of the parasite was much lower indicative that the immune response was better able to clear the infection. This is a very novel (and clever) way to evade host defenses by means of upregulating the anti inflammatory response and a slightly easier life for the parasite.
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