When a tissue experiences inflammation, its cells remember. Pinning proteins to its genetic material at the height of inflammation, the cells bookmark where they left off in their last tussle. Next exposure, inflammatory memory kicks in. The cells draw from prior experience to respond more efficiently, even to threats that they have not encountered before. Skin heals a wound faster if it was previously exposed to an irritant, such as a toxin or pathogen; immune cells can attack new viruses after a vaccine has taught them to recognize just one virus.
Now, a new study in Cell Stem Cell describes the mechanism behind inflammatory memory, also commonly referred to as trained immunity, and suggests that the phenomenon may be universal across diverse cell types.
“This is happening in natural killer cells, T cells, dendritic cells from human skin, and epidermal stem cells in mice,” says Samantha B. Larsen, a former graduate student in the laboratory of Elaine Fuchs at The Rockefeller University. “The similarities in mechanism are striking, and may explain the remitting and relapsing nature of chronic inflammatory disorders in humans.”
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Cell Stem Cell. Research Paper:
