They also noticed that in the lymph nodes there was a sharp increase in certain chemokines, chemicals that stimulate immune cells to move in and cause inflammation. Besides, a delay was also noticed in killer cells, dendritic cells (the cells that capture and present foreign proteins to other immune cells), and T cells arriving at the site of infection, where they were supposed to go earlier to fulfill their virus-fighting roles.
Thus it was suggested that a possible reason for this tardiness is an alteration in the chemical cues necessary for these cells to migrate to the site of infection. The authors described the finding of an immune-response promoting role for regulatory T cells during the early stages of a local infection as "unexpected," considering the cells suppressor roles during later stages of an immune response.
Their findings appear in the latest edition of Science Express, a Web edition of selected Science papers published in advance of the print edition.
Source-ANI
RAS/K