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Cell death and cytokine storms: how your body's innate immune response is crucial to battling COVID-19
Jun 2, 2020
Research has shown that the body's innate immune response can be fatal for someone infected with COVID-19. Overactivity of white blood cells and other proteins can cause mass blood vessel injury and even organ failure. It's vital doctors stem this 'cytokine storm' to protect those infected.
The killer is not the virus but the immune response.
The current pandemic is unique not just because it is caused by a new virus that puts everyone at risk, but also because the range of innate immune responses is diverse and unpredictable. In some it is strong enough to kill. In others it is relatively mild.
My research relates to innate immunity. Innate immunity is a person’s inborn defense against pathogens that instruct the body’s adaptive immune system to produce antibodies against viruses. Those antibody responses can be later used for developing vaccination approaches. Working in the lab of Nobel laureate Bruce Beutler , I co-authored the paper that explained how the cells that make up the body’s innate immune system recognize pathogens, and how overreacting to them in general could be detrimental to the host. This is especially true in the COVID-19 patients who are overreacting to the virus.
Cell death – a chess game of sacrifice
I study inflammatory response and cell death, which are two principal components of the innate response. White blood cells called macrophages use a set of sensors to recognize the pathogen and produce proteins called cytokines, which trigger inflammation and recruit other cells of the innate immune system for help. In addition, macrophages instruct the adaptive immune system to learn about the pathogen and ultimately produce antibodies.
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