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Y-shaped antibodies shown controlling the
virus. Imagecourtesy of Dr. Mariapia
Degli-Esposti, Lions Eye Institute, Perth,
Western Australia Image courtesy Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
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In a new study in mice, researchers led by Dr. Geoffrey Hill at Fred Hutch showed that a strain-specific antibodies made from B cells are responsible for keeping cytomegalovirus (CMV) suppressed in mice, without the need for any other immune cells. The finding overturns decades of long-held thinking about how the virus re-emerges in a life-threatening infection in people with compromised immune systems. The study appears in the Jan. 18, 2019 journal Science.
CMV is a type of herpes virus that infects half of adults by age 40. In people with a healthy immune system the virus is not eradicated by the immune system, rather it is held in check. When a person undergoes a bone marrow or stem cell transplant often the bone marrow is eradicated by radiation therapy and then the donor marrow is given to regrow the immune system. In the period that the immune system is wiped out, CMV can come roaring back causing pneumonia, hepatitis and gastroenteritis.
When early studies using antibodies to control the virus in transplant patients proved disappointing, control of CMV in transplant patients has focused on T-cells, the cells most responsible for eradicating foreign invaders.
In the new study the researchers conducted a series of experiments looking at the different roles different types of immune cells played in controlling CMV. They found that a strain-specific antibody from B cells could be the dominant role in controlling CMV reactivation. They then looked at eight different strains of the virus and found that mice given the same B cell antibody completely protected the mice from CMV.
The Hutch team is now pursuing clinical studies to test the approach.
CMV is a type of herpes virus that infects half of adults by age 40. In people with a healthy immune system the virus is not eradicated by the immune system, rather it is held in check. When a person undergoes a bone marrow or stem cell transplant often the bone marrow is eradicated by radiation therapy and then the donor marrow is given to regrow the immune system. In the period that the immune system is wiped out, CMV can come roaring back causing pneumonia, hepatitis and gastroenteritis.
When early studies using antibodies to control the virus in transplant patients proved disappointing, control of CMV in transplant patients has focused on T-cells, the cells most responsible for eradicating foreign invaders.
In the new study the researchers conducted a series of experiments looking at the different roles different types of immune cells played in controlling CMV. They found that a strain-specific antibody from B cells could be the dominant role in controlling CMV reactivation. They then looked at eight different strains of the virus and found that mice given the same B cell antibody completely protected the mice from CMV.
The Hutch team is now pursuing clinical studies to test the approach.
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