Fat cells play a surprising role in combating parasites, according to a study published today (October 14) in Science Immunology, which finds that fatty tissue surrounding the intestinal tracts of mice helps eject gut-infesting worms and fight future infections.
Jorge Caamaňo, an immunologist at the University of Birmingham who was not involved in the work, says that “the study brings to focus the idea that when we’re looking at the immune response, we shouldn’t just focus on” immune cells.
Scientists already knew that mesenteric adipose tissue—the fat that lines the intestines—contributes to the immune response to pathogens and cancer. But its role in fighting parasites wasn’t well-defined until study coauthor and immunologist Edward Pearce and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute examined how fat cells and immune cells each respond to parasitic infection.
Pearce’s group was studying how animals gain immunity to such infections in a mouse model when, ...
