March 12, 2012

Antibodies? Who needs them!

After decades of thinking that antibodies were required in order to have immunity against certain viruses, a new study has proved this incorrect.  Researchers have discovered that adaptive immunity is not always required in order to prevent virus from being lethal, but that the innate immunity can handle the viruses on its own.  Innate immunity is a first line of defense that relies on cells and mechanisms that provide non-specific immunity.  It was always believed that adaptive immunity, which includes antibody-producing B cells, played the more major role in the specific response to viral infections in mammals.  A team of researchers studied mice, infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), that had B cells that did not produce antibodies.  Unexpectedly, the mice were still able to survive, even without any adaptive mechanisms.  The scientists determined that the B cells "produced a chemical needed to maintain innate immune cells called macrophages.  The macrophages produced type I interferons, which were required to prevent fatal VSV invasion."  Researchers concluded that the B cells, although necessary, did not rely on any adaptive mechanisms to protect the host, rather linking directly with the innate immune system.

This new discovery is very interesting because it shows how biology is always evolving; concepts that were originally thought to be correct can always be shown to be incorrect.  This new discovery is very exciting because it could potentially lead to new methods of combatting diseases and viruses that do not rely on antibodies.  This could potentially help protect more people from lethal diseases and is something that should definitely be further researched.

11 comments:

Jack said...

pretty awesome, I always thought the adaptive immune system handled viruses.

K. said...

Proven?

enkaysaini said...

wow this is pretty neat!

acavz said...

really interesting another view of the immune system

Shan said...

Cool post! I wonder what other things in the cell we don't need to rely on

KTress said...

I knew you were going to say something about it being "proved" incorrect... and its even more interesting now that we've actually learned about the immune system.

Jenai said...

Its very interesting how are Immune System can kill harmful viruses without needing assistance I wonder what else it can do?

tfarquharson said...

That's really interesting. Maybe a study of macrophages can be done that will enable them to help fight against diseases that the B cells cannot handle.

vas said...

I always find it interesting how with continual research we keep on finding out new things, even though the scientists thought they had discovered mostly everything on that topic already.

chellemohasin said...

I always thought antibodies were our primary force against any invaders. this is interesting! maybe we can now tackle diseases in a new way.

Fariha said...

This is so interesting. You're right science is always evolving. At some points our body become immune to certain antibiotics so we aren't able to fight off diseases as well, this can bring forth new methods of fighting off diseases.