Vaccine candidate supports immunity where it matters most

Almost all infections make us sick by getting past our first line of defense – the sticky mucous surfaces that line our mouths, our eyes, our lungs and our guts. Once through, it’s up to the immune cells that reside in our bodies to fight the disease. Now researchers have found that one virus activates the immune system to continually feed sentinel cells into the mucous membranes where they could offer better and more immediate protection at the front lines, preventing disease before it occurs. The work was published online October 29 in the journal Cell Reports. “If you could get immune cells into those first-line tissues, like the lungs, or the mouth, then you might be able to prevent the disease developing, and a lot of current research suggests that you should improve how quickly the immune system responds,” says senior author Christopher Snyder, PhD, an assistant professor in the...