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Immune Cells Do Something Unexpected to Stop This Brain Parasite From Spreading
4 Articles
4 Articles
Immune Cells Do Something Unexpected to Stop This Brain Parasite From Spreading
A new study identifies an extreme but effective way that brain immune cells can prevent the parasite Toxoplasma gondii from spreading: they kill themselves to eliminate the dangerous microbes they carry.
Toxoplasmosis is widespread. Over the course of their lives, around 80 percent of people in Germany are infected with the pathogen, which can be fatal for immunocompromised people. A research team now learns how the body defends itself against the parasite when it is already in the brain.
One in three people carry this brain parasite but the body has a kill switch
Source:University of Virginia Health SystemSummary:A parasite that may already be hiding in your brain has a shocking survival trick: it can infect the very immune cells sent to destroy it. Yet most people never get sick, and new research from UVA Health reveals why. Scientists discovered that when Toxoplasma gondii invades CD8+ T cells — key defenders of the immune system — those cells can trigger a self-destruct mechanism powered by an enzyme …
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