3 ms·

I read the abstract but it told me nothing. Could someone smarter to me help translate? What are the profound effects? What are Th1 and Th2 responses? What a

I read the abstract but it told me nothing. Could someone smarter to me help translate? What are the profound effects? What are Th1 and Th2 responses? What are cytokines? What are immune cell compositions? Overall is this a good effect or a bad effect?

aborowie 5y ago
Cytokines are signaling molecules used by the immune system, there are around 20 of them with names like IL-4 and IL-10. The IL stands for inter leukin (signal between white blood cells). T Cells start as B Cells and then graduate from Thymus school after rigorous coursework (mainly don’t target and attack self). Most T helper cells stay as Th0 or undifferentiated. Th1 are specialized for inter cellular pathogens (bacteria and virus), Th2 broadly speaking are specialized for intra cellular pathogens (helminths and parasites). Pathogens that have been around for a while like bacteria, virus, helminths, and parasites have evolved to push back against immune systems to varying degrees. Source “The Body” by Bill Bryson
- yhoneycomb 5y ago
  I think it's so interesting how this guy asked pretty rudimentary questions and got such an amazing response. I wish the tech community could be just as nice to newcomers.
  - haimez 5y ago
    Probably not as many “PHP App” authors in the immunology space, so frustration with newcomers could reasonably be expected to be lower.
danboarder 5y ago
Regarding understanding this as a good or bad effect, I think this is still an open question and further research is needed. My take away is that the rush to eradicating mosquitoes may have unintended consequences as we don't fully understand how symbiotic they are in the development of the human immune system.
- iLemming 5y ago
  Right. Our war for the survival of species is not with mosquitos but with the viruses they can carry. If only we could make them incapable of carrying. But then, viruses probably find other, even more disgusting ways into our bodies. "If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained... life will find a way". On the other hand, human progress moves way faster than evolution [eat that Darwin!]. That's amazing, but at the same time absolutely horrifying.
mcguire 5y ago
The Author Summary seems to provide a more plain-English description: "Mosquito saliva proteins have numerous effects on the immune system, and we describe here the use of mice with a humanized immune system to study the effects of mosquito bites on human cells. Our results show that the number of immune cell types affected is much larger than previously described, and some immune responses to mosquito bites can be detected up until 7 days post-bite. The biological significance of these changes remains to be determined, but it might explain how some pathogens, such as viruses, can spread through the body in these cells, replicate to higher extents, and even remain in some tissues for far longer than detected in blood." They're using stem cells to provide mice with "humanized" immune systems. The mosquito saliva is interacting with more types of immune cells than previously thought and remain active for longer than thought. The effects of these interactions is still unknown, but may be part of how bacteria, viruses, etc. carried by mosquitoes infect humans.

aborowie 5y ago

Cytokines are signaling molecules used by the immune system, there are around 20 of them with names like IL-4 and IL-10. The IL stands for inter leukin (signal between white blood cells). T Cells start as B Cells and then graduate from Thymus school after rigorous coursework (mainly don’t target and attack self). Most T helper cells stay as Th0 or undifferentiated. Th1 are specialized for inter cellular pathogens (bacteria and virus), Th2 broadly speaking are specialized for intra cellular pathogens (helminths and parasites). Pathogens that have been around for a while like bacteria, virus, helminths, and parasites have evolved to push back against immune systems to varying degrees. Source “The Body” by Bill Bryson

yhoneycomb 5y ago
I think it's so interesting how this guy asked pretty rudimentary questions and got such an amazing response. I wish the tech community could be just as nice to newcomers.
- haimez 5y ago
  Probably not as many “PHP App” authors in the immunology space, so frustration with newcomers could reasonably be expected to be lower.

danboarder 5y ago

Regarding understanding this as a good or bad effect, I think this is still an open question and further research is needed. My take away is that the rush to eradicating mosquitoes may have unintended consequences as we don't fully understand how symbiotic they are in the development of the human immune system.

iLemming 5y ago
Right. Our war for the survival of species is not with mosquitos but with the viruses they can carry. If only we could make them incapable of carrying. But then, viruses probably find other, even more disgusting ways into our bodies. "If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained... life will find a way". On the other hand, human progress moves way faster than evolution [eat that Darwin!]. That's amazing, but at the same time absolutely horrifying.

mcguire 5y ago

The Author Summary seems to provide a more plain-English description: "Mosquito saliva proteins have numerous effects on the immune system, and we describe here the use of mice with a humanized immune system to study the effects of mosquito bites on human cells. Our results show that the number of immune cell types affected is much larger than previously described, and some immune responses to mosquito bites can be detected up until 7 days post-bite. The biological significance of these changes remains to be determined, but it might explain how some pathogens, such as viruses, can spread through the body in these cells, replicate to higher extents, and even remain in some tissues for far longer than detected in blood." They're using stem cells to provide mice with "humanized" immune systems. The mosquito saliva is interacting with more types of immune cells than previously thought and remain active for longer than thought. The effects of these interactions is still unknown, but may be part of how bacteria, viruses, etc. carried by mosquitoes infect humans.