When white blood cells of the immune system detect harmful pathogens or cancer cells, they mobilise to counter them. To do this effectively, they must communicate - communication between white blood cells is vital for a tailored immune response. The body鈥檚 response to various health challenges depends on successful coordination among these microscopic immune soldiers.
Different white blood cells communicate directly to one another through short-lived contacts called immune synapses. Key messages are dispatched across the immune synapse via microscopic spheres called vesicles.
Questions on how these vesicles are formed and their contents are at the cutting-edge of research in immune associated diseases. To answer these a team of researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Malta鈥檚 David Saliba (Faculty of Health Sciences) developed a three-dimensional synthetic cell to intercept and collect these messages.
By employing the latest gene editing technology, known as CRISPR-Cas9, the team elucidated the mechanism of message transfer across the immune synapse. They deciphered the messages contained in the vesicles and show that these prolong the communication between immune cells long after these have departed.
This work has profound implications on understanding cell communication. It is relevant in various future therapies where the immune system is involved and intervention can help balance its response to disease.
