Image credit: This heat map represents the low (blue) and high (red) gene expression of innate lyphoid cells in the body. Credit: Dr. Laurel Monticelli
Researchers have long known that dysfunction in the body’s innate immune system breaks the first line of defense against invading pathogens, enabling diseases to flourish unchecked. However, scientists’ ability to enhance the protective features of the innate immune system has been hampered by a lack of information about what a ‘healthy’ innate immune system looks like in different sites throughout the human body.
Now, in findings published Feb. 12 in Immunity, Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have been the first to generate an anatomical ‘map’ detailing the distribution of innate lymphoid cells in tissues from previously healthy humans. By establishing a baseline of immune activity, this study provides important insights into how the healthy immune system functions in an organ-specific way. This knowledge can be used to aid scientists in developing more effective treatments for a range of immunological diseases including infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. To read more, click here.