Acute malaria infections produce special cells of the immune system to fight the disease, according to scientists in the UK in the journal Nature Immunology. Thanks to their discovery, it will be possible to develop methods of mobilizing the immune system to produce more cells that fight infection.
New blood cells and the body’s immune system develop in the bone marrow. Alexandre Potocnik and colleagues from the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London studied mice infected with the malaria parasite. They found that an unknown type of cells is formed in the animals’ bone marrow, which are able to differentiate and turn into cells of the immune system to fight disease.
The cells that develop after infection with the parasite are produced by a pro-inflammatory molecule called interferon-gamma, which is released by tissues around the body in response to the infection. (PAP)