Scientists finally have proof of mysterious immune cell in humans
While working to map every cell in the human body, scientists uncovered an elusive type of immune cell that first emerges in the womb. The existence of such cells in humans has been hotly debated — until now.
These mysterious cells, known as B-1 cells, were first discovered in mice in the 1980s, according to a 2018 review in The Journal of Immunology. These cells arise early in mouse development, in the womb, and they produce various antibodies when activated. Some of these antibodies latch onto the mouse's own cells and help to clear dying and dead cells from the body. Activated B-1 cells also make antibodies that act as a first line of defense against pathogens, like viruses and bacteria.
After the discovery of B-1 cells in mice, a research group reported in 2011 that they'd found equivalent cells in humans, but these results were not accepted as conclusive proof. "At that time, there was back and forth … Not everyone agreed with our profile of human B-1 cells," said Dr. Thomas Rothstein, a professor and founding chair of the Department of Investigative Medicine and director of the Center for Immunobiology at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, who was senior author of that previous work.
Now, a new study, published Thursday (May 12) in the journal Science, provides solid evidence that B-1 cells emerge in early human development, within the first and second trimester. "It confirms and extends the work that we published previously," Rothstein, who was not involved with the new research, told Live Science.
