Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, have discovered that some organs, including the liver, skin and uterus, have dedicated immune cells – rather than immune cells that roam the whole body – that fight specific cancers and viral infections.
These findings disprove the long-held belief that all natural killer cells travel through the entire body to create the first line of defense against cancer and viruses. Medical experts previously thought that circulating immune cells identified a threat in the body, then attacked it.
They also thought that natural killer cells that stayed inside of a specific organ were either immature or inactive, then would become active and circulate out of the organ to travel around the body. Dorothy K. Sojka, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow, demonstrated that some natural killer cells never leave the liver, the skin or the uterus.
She also experimented with transcription factors – molecular switches that turn genes on and off. She found that turning off circulating natural killer cells didn’t necessarily turn off the killer cell in the organs, and vice-versa.
Her findings show there are at least 4 types of natural killer cells rather than just the one originally recognized by immunologists. She’s continuing her research to look for other natural killer cells in other organs.
According to senior investigator, Wayne M. Yokohama, MD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, specialized medications could be used to activate organ-specific cells that would provide powerful and selective weapons against organ-specific infections and tumors. This targeted approach using organ-specific natural killer cells would be a major breakthrough in treating diseases.
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Source
https://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/26793.aspx
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