A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has examined how T cells of the immune system are affected by weightlessness. The results, which are published in the journal Science Advances, could explain why astronauts' T cells become less active and less effective at fighting infection.
A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has examined how T cells of the immune system are affected by weightlessness. The results, which are published in the journal, could explain why astronauts' T cells become less active and less effective at fighting infection.
"If astronauts are to be able to undergo safe space missions, we need to understand how their immune systems are affected and try to find ways to counter harmful changes to it," says study leader Lisa Westerberg, principal researcher at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet."We've now been able to investigate what happens to T cells, which are a key component of the immune system, when exposed to weightless conditions.
"The T cells began to resemble more so-called naïve T cells, which have not yet encountered any intruders. This could mean that they take longer to be activated and thus become less effective at fightingand infections. Our results can pave the way for new treatments that reverse these changes to the immune cells' genetic program," says Carlos Gallardo Dodd, Ph.D.
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