Lymphocytes attacking viruses. 3D medical illustration on immunity (sakurra/Adobestock)
Lymphocytes attacking viruses. 3D medical illustration on immunity (sakurra/Adobestock) How the T-cell response changes in chronic virus infections - "The Covid-19 pandemic clearly demonstrates the importance of understanding how the immune system reacts to virus infections," says Dr. Kilian Schober. Together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Medicine, Biology and Bioinformatics, he is investigating how important agents in the body's immune system known as T lymphocytes or T cells react when a virus invades the organism and how the immune response changes when the infection becomes chronic. The team was able to show that the T cell response is a dynamic process and published their findings Immunology. Different T cells with different receptors are especially active in various phases of the virus infection. "The discovery of this change over time was a big surprise to us," says Schober, the lead author of the study. Until now scientists assumed that after an infection primarily those defense cells multiplied that are especially good at docking onto the cell structures impacted by the virus.
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