Published in the Open-Access journal PloS Pathogens on August 4th, researchers showed that cells of the innate immune system are capable of "memory", and of mounting rapid protection to an otherwise lethal dose of live vaccinia virus. The study contests prior belief that only B cells and T cells are able to store memory to fight off future infection.
The discovery, by researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Hebrew University and Duke University, has potentially crucial repercussions for the design of future vaccines, HIV in particular.
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"Thy1+ Nk Cells from Vaccinia Virus-Primed Mice Confer Protection against Vaccinia Virus Challenge in the Absence of Adaptive Lymphocytes" (http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1002141)