April 28, 2024

Q&A: What if Immune Cells Don’t Actually Detect Viruses and Bacteria?

Its a typical, simple idea in science: When a viral, bacterial, or parasitic pathogen sneaks its method into a host and attempts to contaminate cells, the immune system identifies its presence and mounts a counterattack.However, Harvard Medical School gastroenterologist Jonathan Kagan published a hypothesis paper in Science last week (January 26) that turns that idea on its head. And so, you have another example: The successful pathogen actually has a very healthy and robust cell wall, but if your cell wall was falling apart, then our immune system can identify it. And when the pathogen makes an error, that is when, I would argue, your immune system is able to dispense the entire infection.TS: One point that you made in your paper that I desired to ask about is how, as you mentioned, this idea basically means that the immune system is safeguarding against a pathogens ability to rapidly progress. An effective pathogen, which may have contaminated the cell right next to you, is still going to be gotten rid of since all of our immune reactions and the immune reactions of plants are systemic. I imply, whats intriguing is despite the truth theres so much literature to support this contention that what were really detecting are PAMPs that could never be revealed by an effective pathogen, the basic belief has always been that we identify pathogens.

And so, you have another example: The successful pathogen really has a robust and very healthy cell wall, however if your cell wall was falling apart, then our immune system can identify it. And once the pathogen makes a mistake, that is when, I would argue, your immune system is able to dispense the entire infection.TS: One point that you made in your paper that I desired to ask about is how, as you discussed, this concept essentially indicates that the immune system is defending against a pathogens ability to quickly develop. I imply, whats fascinating is in spite of the fact theres so much literature to support this contention that what were actually detecting are PAMPs that might never be revealed by a successful pathogen, the basic belief has actually constantly been that we discover pathogens.