Researchers have identified a type of master cell that coordinates the body’s immune defenses in the first days after infection with tuberculosis (TB). Targeting this cell could provide a key to fighting millions of new infections each year, they say.
TB is one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide, resulting in about 1.5 million deaths in 2017 alone. While a TB vaccine is available, it provides limited protection.
In the current study, researchers studied animals and people to identify immune cells that can defend the body against TB bacteria in the early days after infection. They found that cells known as group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) play a pivotal role in the first two weeks of TB infection. In studies using mice, the researchers showed that animals that lacked ILC3 cells had difficulty fighting the infection, became sicker, and had more TB bacteria in their lungs. When researchers gave ILC3 cells to mice that lacked these cells, their ability to fight infection improved and TB levels in their lungs did not rise very high.
The findings could lead to a more effective vaccine for TB, the researchers noted. Their study, which was partly funded by NHLBI, appeared in Nature.