In Brief
Exhausted Immune Defence
After an infection, staphylococcus bacteria can infest our body, leading to serious chronic diseases. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research around Prof. Dr Eva Medina now discovered, why the immune system sometimes is unable to fully extirpate the bacteria. In the mouse model, the researchers illustrated that in the early stages of infection, the immune response starts up in a normal manner: The defence cells, so-called T cells or T lymphocytes, identify and combat the bacteria. After two to three weeks, the T cells lose their ability of fighting against the bacteria and the infection can turn into a chronic condition.
The scientists discovered that this "exhaustion" of the defensive response has a molecular cause: Signals from receptors on the surface of the T cell are no longer transmitted to the interior of the cell. "We now need to understand how we can prevent the deactivation of the T cells, so that they are fully operational in the event of a staphylococcus infection", says Medina.
Original publication:
Ziegler C, Goldmann O, Hobeika E, Geffers R, Peters G, Medina E. The dynamics of T cells during persistent Staphylococcus aureus infection: from antigen-reactivity to in vivo anergy. EMBO Mol Med. 2011 Sep 2. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201100173.
