A 汤头条app researcher who has spent more than 10 years studying B cells and their immune response in the body has received funding from the National Institutes of Health to study the influence that sex has on health and disease.
A research project by Nichol Holodick, PhD, titled 鈥淪ex Determines Age-related Changes in the Repertoire and Function of Natural Antibodies Protective against Streptococcus pneumoniae with Increasing Age,鈥 has been supported with a four-year, $1.51 million grant that was awarded to 汤头条app in September by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Holodick studies a specific subset of white blood cells, B cells, that make proteins called antibodies, which are able to bind to and facilitate the clearance of bacteria. Her research project focuses the loss of protective antibodies against pneumococcal bacteria with advancing age and the role of sex in determining differences in protection from infection between males and females.
鈥淏-1 cells make natural antibodies, which are present all the time,鈥 Dr. Holodick said. 鈥淭hey make this antibody even before they see the bacteria, so they鈥檙e special in that way. These natural antibodies are part of our first line of defense.鈥
Normally a person requires two weeks to make specific antibodies against an infection, but B-1 cells provide antibodies essential in protection from infection during the time required for the immune system to mount a specific response over a two week period, Dr. Holodick said. B-1 cell natural antibodies are essential for protection during the early phases of bacterial infection. What Dr. Holodick has found in previous studies is that natural antibodies change depending on age and sex. The grant will help Dr. Holodick understand how, as we age, sex plays a role in the maintenance of protective natural antibody production.
Studies have shown that infection of Streptococcus pneumoniae, a type of bacteria that causes pneumonia, claims the lives of men over the age of 65 eight times more frequently than males aged 5 to 49, Dr. Holodick said. B-1 cells provide protection from the bacteria through the production of natural antibody, but her studies have shown the antibody in aged male mice does not protect against Streptococcus pneumoniae infection.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in how B-1 cells and the antibodies they produce change over time,鈥 Dr. Holodick said. 鈥淲hy with age are males in particular less protected from streptococcus pneumonia? I鈥檓 interested in what changes happen over time leading to less effective natural antibody. The grant will help to understand one angle, or one arm, of what might be going on, and that relates to differences between males and females. The grant focuses on how estrogen affects B-1 cell production of natural antibodies capable of providing protection against S. pneumoniae in the aged.鈥
Dr. Holodick鈥檚 research will have a significant impact on the health of the people of Michigan, especially the elderly, said Greg Vanden Heuvel, PhD, the medical school鈥檚 Associate Dean for Research.聽
鈥淲e are delighted with the success of Dr. Holodick,鈥 Dr. Vanden Heuvel said. 鈥淪he is a leader in the field of Immunology and a member of the Center for Immunobiology, one of the foremost centers for the study of B1 cells in the country.鈥