Cool history in this article 👉 But, IMO, #immunology will not “come of age” until it becomes common practice to study the human #immune response in concert w/ the genetic + metabolic activity of the body’s microbial/viral ecosystems
For example, we should study T cell #immunotherapies in concert with the activity of #tumor-associated microbiomes☝️ This study is a good example of how that trend has potential: cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/content/early/…
We also now realize that billions (trillions?) of #phages persist in human tissue/blood 👉 And certain phages can modulate innate #immunity via phagocytosis and cytokine responses..+ adaptive immunity via effects on antibody production: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30585…
Also a growing body of research shows that the innate #immune response is more extensive than previously recognized 👉 eg: amyloid, alpha-syn appear to be potent #antimicrobial peptides, and mitochondrial signaling is central to innate immune regulation: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Also - a growing focus on how microbial #metabolites regulate immune activity 👉 Eg: here a metabolite created by gut #bacteria was shown capable of regulating signaling between microglia and astrocytes: nature.com/articles/s4158…
As these and related trends are better studied 👉 I think that most instances in which the immune system is assumed to “attack self” 👉 will actually represent a deliberate effort by the #immune response to target + manage this rapidly growing range of environmental variables
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.