A number of types of immune cells communicate via a naturally occurring network of nanotubes, investigators report today in this month's
"We think the cells make these connections so that they can work in a coordinated fashion to collect antigens from pathogens rather than working as individuals. This would seem to make the likelihood of successful delivery of the antigen to a distant lymph node much more likely," Watkins said in an email.
These findings could serve as a "good solution" for the "puzzles" plaguing many different fields in research, said Hans-Hermann Gerdes at the University of Bergen in Norway,...