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The investigation, led by Janko Nikolich, found that lymph nodes, which are critical for maintaining and accelerating immune responses during infection, age at different rates
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps explain the immune system's response to skin infections and even skin cancer
immune system army
White blood cells, especially T cells, are the soldiers of the immune system
"It's not enough to make enough new T cells, and if your body isn't making something, it's better to stay in good shape
Maintenance of T cells occurs primarily in the lymph nodes, which have two main functions
"Humans have about 450 lymph nodes," Dr.
It is in the lymph nodes that the immune system first judges the size of the enemy
"Instead, we have relatively few soldiers who are well trained to deal with specific infections," he said
During infection, white blood cells that are specialized to fight infection divide rapidly in the lymph nodes
dilapidated barracks
The team tagged and tracked T cells produced in the thymus glands of old and young mice and compared the paths of T cells throughout the body
Next, they tried to help the thymus make extra white blood cells to boost the immune response
"The cells didn't go where they were supposed to go, which is why we started looking at lymph nodes as a potential cause of the immune deficiencies we found in older adults," he said.
In fact, in older animals, cells that landed in lymph nodes close to the skin moved quickly as if they had to leave
They also found that the connections between maintenance T cells and the cells that make up the lymph node highway were severely reduced
"It's as if the lymph node cells themselves are uncomfortable, so they don't touch each other anymore," he said
Implications for vaccination and intervention
The discovery brings researchers closer to understanding why the immune response weakens after vaccination in older adults
Lymph nodes are involved whenever a vaccine is given? Nikolich said
.
However, most vaccines do not prime older immune systems as effectively as younger vaccines, which is a problem for developmental protection
.
He emphasized that the immune system is similar to a muscle and can be re-strengthened and treatments can intervene
.
"We found that for the immune system, you can do a lot of things, even in later life, and there are things you might need to do in middle age to restore those things
," he said
.
"This gives us a lot of hope
.
If we can restore thymus function, even for a short period later in life, this could lead to a very viable treatment
.
"
It could also pave the way for new treatments for cancer
.
Eighty-five percent of cancers occur in people over the age of 50, and the immune system works the same way, so if we can help the lymph nodes fight infections better, we'll also benefit from cancer immunotherapy
.
Early age–related atrophy of cutaneous lymph nodes precipitates an early functional decline in skin immunity in mice with aging