Macrophages encompass a highly diverse set of cells abundantly present in every tissue and organ.
βΆοΈ Resident tissue macrophages (RTMs) are a type of macrophages that reside long-term..
2) ... in specific tissues and organs. They help maintain tissue homeostasis through specialized roles like regulating immune responses, clearing cellular debris, producing growth factors, and participating in metabolic processes.
βΆοΈ Monocyte-derived macrophages: These originate
3) ...from circulating monocytes that enter tissues, differentiate, and adopt more short-term roles like immune responses and repair.
βΆοΈ Inflammation-associated macrophages (iMacs): Subsets of monocyte-derived macrophages involved in acute/chronic inflammation.
4) βΆοΈ Tumor-associated macrophages: Subsets implicated in cancer progression and therapy resistance.
βΆοΈ Some specific macrophage subsets/populations include, Microglia in the brain, Alveolar macrophages in lungs, Kupffer cells in liver, Osteoclasts in bone, Langerhans in skin,..
5) In this new study, they showed that Resident tissue macrophages (RTMs) are a heterogeneous group of immune cells that inhabit virtually all tissues and organs in the body. They were traditionally thought to only play roles in innate immunity, but ... science.org/doi/10.1126/scβ¦
6) ...research has shown they have important functions in maintaining tissue homeostasis beyond immunity.Β
RTMs can originate from either embryonic progenitors or fetal monocytes that persist into adulthood.
7) Their identity and phenotype are shaped by local environmental cues in each tissue.
Most tissues contain two conserved populations of RTMs - perivascular macrophages (PVMs) that are located near blood vessels. They can be identified by expression of TIM4 or MHCII and ...
8) ... have distinct transcriptional programs tailored to each organ.
- In addition to PVMs, some tissues contain specialized tissue-resident macrophage populations like microglia in the brain or alveolar macrophages in the lungs.
9) RTM subsets perform division of labor within tissues by mediating distinct physiological processes. For example, microglia regulate synaptic pruning and neural signaling in the brain, while alveolar macrophages clear pulmonary surfactant.
10) Dysregulation of RTM homeostasis, especially long-term deviation from their normal functions, can lead to or exacerbate chronic inflammatory diseases like Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis, and obesity-related disorders.
11) In summary, the paper discusses the heterogeneity, tissue-specific functions, and importance of RTMs in maintaining homeostasis and the implications when their functions are disrupted in disease states.
Why is Identifying "Non-Trivial SARS-CoV-2 Population Structure within Hosts" Important for Understanding SARS-COV-2 Evolution and the Emergence of New Variants?
2) The "non-trivial population structure" refers to the viral population within a host consisting of two or more distinct, independently evolving subpopulations, rather than a single, homogeneous population.
3) The key points about non-trivial population structure are:
βΆοΈ It was relatively common, found in 5 out of the 9 chronic SARS-CoV-2 infection cases examined.
βΆοΈ It was more prevalent in severely immunocompromised individuals compared to those not significantly immunocompromised
2) Viruses are not living things. They are tiny particles that can only make copies of themselves inside the cells of living things, like humans. When a virus makes copies of itself, it doesn't always make perfect copies.
3) Sometimes, little mistakes happen, and the new virus has a small change, or mutation, in its genes.
Most of the time, these mutations don't do anything useful for the virus. But every now and then, a mutation might happen that makes the virus better at infecting people.
2) This study looks at the risks of COVID-19 for people traveling to space.
Space travel is becoming more common, with over 600 people having gone to space. But COVID-19 could be a big problem for astronauts in the unique environment of space.
3) The study aims to understand how COVID-19 might behave differently in space compared to on Earth.
The researchers reviewed studies on other airborne diseases in space. They found that some diseases, like Epstein-Barr virus and Serratia bacteria ...
From Lung Damage to Gut Dysbiosis:
The Lasting Implications of SARS-CoV-2 Variant-Specific Microbiome Changes (From Wuhan strain to Omicron) labanimres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11β¦
2) The Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2 caused serious damage to the lungs of infected mice. The mice had a very high chance of dying from this strain. The researchers also looked at the bacteria in the lungs and guts of the infected mice.
3) The Wuhan strain increased harmful bacteria like E. coli in the lungs. This can make the lungs more prone to other infections.
The Omicron variant caused different changes in the gut bacteria of the mice. It increased certain bacteria linked to inflammation in the gut.
What are GAMMA CORONAVIRUSES ?
And why did we decide to talk about it?
2) A brief reminder :
βΆοΈ SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the family Coronaviridae, is classified as a coronavirus and is responsible for COVID-19
βΆοΈ Bird Flu refers to various strains of the influenza virus, particularly those in the Orthomyxoviridae family including H5N1 and H7N9.
3) βΆοΈ Gammacoronavirus belongs to the family Coronaviridae like SARS-COV-2.
Some notable gammacoronaviruses include:
- Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV): A major pathogen in poultry responsible for respiratory disease and reduced egg production.
A TREATMENT that Could Finally END Long COVID Suffering ?
This isn't the first time a treatment has been announced, and as millions continue to struggle with long Covid, we need to remain both cautious and hopeful π€
2) Researchers at WEHI announced that they discovered a new drug that can stop long COVID symptoms in mice. This drug is more effective than the current top treatment, Paxlovid, for both long COVID and acute COVID cases.
3) They focused on a specific protein called PLpro that other treatments haven't targeted well. This breakthrough could lead to new medicines for long COVID, a condition where people continue to feel sick long after their COVID-19 infection.