Protein Suppresion could help improve immune response as age increases.
Article
The above article discussed how scientist from Standford University School of Medicine believe that a protein called DUSP6 interferes with the ability of immune cells to respond to the presence of foeign substances. The scientist noted that as people ages, their immune response began to decline. Not only that but the effectiveness of vaccine also decreased with age. The team of scientist sought to identify what possible alterations could cause an age related decrease in the immune response. They looked specifically at T-Helper cells. There are two types of T-Helper cells but the scientist discovered DUSP6 in Naive T-Helper cells. Naive T-Helper cells have never had contact with any antigens before but once they do get into contact with them, they are able to effectively activate and direct other immune cells.
The scientists compared blood cells taken from younger people (ages 20-35) and older people (ages 70-85) in response to stimulation. In this test, the scientist saw that there was a difference due to age in T-Helper cells but not in Memory T-helper cells. The age related difference was discovered to be due to the enzyme DUSP6. DUSP6 detaches phosphate groups from other enzymes and this causes the activity of other enzymes to decrease. It was also shown that DUSP6 levels increased as people aged. This was due to a decrease in the effectiveness of miR-181a, which is a molecule that slowed down the production of DUSP6. Thus as miR-181a became less effective, DUSP6 numbers increased. The Stanford team noted that the levels of miR-181a decrease with age and eventually deplete at age 65-70. By artifically increasing miR-181a levels caused a decrease in DUSP6 cells. But it was also shown that increasing levels of DUSP6 would negate the effect of increasing miR-181a levels. A study done on zebrafish saw that a chemical called BCI blocked DUSP6's effects in cardiac cells. The Stanford team did tests using the BCI chemical. They saw that increasising the amount of BCI caused an increase in the activation of T-helper cells. The team has yet to start clinical trials.
The reason I found this article so interesting was because it discussed why our body is sometimes not affected by vaccines. It was interesting to learn that our body has a system set up so as to make us succeptible to new diseases. It's shows why we get sicker as we age but as humans we are trying to fight that process. It seems odd that our body functions to work against our health as we age. The thought of nature versus human interference comes to mind. By a natural sense we are supposed to get sicker and die because of suppresed T-Helper Cells but we are trying to activate those cells so we can live longer. One thing though that I wished they discussed in the article was what other functions, if any, does the enzyme DUSP6 have. Is it only meant to remove phosphate groups from other enzymes to weaken our T-Helper cell activation or does the removal of phosphate groups play a vital role in our biological system when we get older.
The above article discussed how scientist from Standford University School of Medicine believe that a protein called DUSP6 interferes with the ability of immune cells to respond to the presence of foeign substances. The scientist noted that as people ages, their immune response began to decline. Not only that but the effectiveness of vaccine also decreased with age. The team of scientist sought to identify what possible alterations could cause an age related decrease in the immune response. They looked specifically at T-Helper cells. There are two types of T-Helper cells but the scientist discovered DUSP6 in Naive T-Helper cells. Naive T-Helper cells have never had contact with any antigens before but once they do get into contact with them, they are able to effectively activate and direct other immune cells.
The scientists compared blood cells taken from younger people (ages 20-35) and older people (ages 70-85) in response to stimulation. In this test, the scientist saw that there was a difference due to age in T-Helper cells but not in Memory T-helper cells. The age related difference was discovered to be due to the enzyme DUSP6. DUSP6 detaches phosphate groups from other enzymes and this causes the activity of other enzymes to decrease. It was also shown that DUSP6 levels increased as people aged. This was due to a decrease in the effectiveness of miR-181a, which is a molecule that slowed down the production of DUSP6. Thus as miR-181a became less effective, DUSP6 numbers increased. The Stanford team noted that the levels of miR-181a decrease with age and eventually deplete at age 65-70. By artifically increasing miR-181a levels caused a decrease in DUSP6 cells. But it was also shown that increasing levels of DUSP6 would negate the effect of increasing miR-181a levels. A study done on zebrafish saw that a chemical called BCI blocked DUSP6's effects in cardiac cells. The Stanford team did tests using the BCI chemical. They saw that increasising the amount of BCI caused an increase in the activation of T-helper cells. The team has yet to start clinical trials.
The reason I found this article so interesting was because it discussed why our body is sometimes not affected by vaccines. It was interesting to learn that our body has a system set up so as to make us succeptible to new diseases. It's shows why we get sicker as we age but as humans we are trying to fight that process. It seems odd that our body functions to work against our health as we age. The thought of nature versus human interference comes to mind. By a natural sense we are supposed to get sicker and die because of suppresed T-Helper Cells but we are trying to activate those cells so we can live longer. One thing though that I wished they discussed in the article was what other functions, if any, does the enzyme DUSP6 have. Is it only meant to remove phosphate groups from other enzymes to weaken our T-Helper cell activation or does the removal of phosphate groups play a vital role in our biological system when we get older.
Stanford University Medical Center. "Blocking key protein could halt age-related decline in immune system, study finds." ScienceDaily, 30 Sep. 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2012.
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