Word: celling
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...begun to mass- produce these substances and use them, sometimes in combined "cocktails," to boost the immune system against specific diseases. In clinical trials at Boston's New England Deaconess Hospital, Dr. Jerome Groopman has found that granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor reverses bone-marrow failure and boosts white-cell counts in AIDS patients. Gamma interferon seems to remedy the defective functioning of monocytes and macrophages in a wide variety of diseases. Alpha interferon has been particularly effective against two types of leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system. Says Dr. Jordan Gutterman, of Houston...
Interleukin-2 has shown promising results in treating advanced skin and kidney cancers. In fact, says Gutterman, there appears to be "tremendous synergy" between alpha interferon and IL-2 in attacking cancer cells. While IL-2 works to make the killer cells more potent, he explains, they "have to recognize something unique on the surface of the cancer cell in order to kill it." That something is an antigen, and interferon seems to make it more "visible" to the killer cells...
...however, scientists have a good grasp not only of the broad workings of the immune system but of many of the nitty-gritty details as well. In a typical infection, for example, a flu virus burrows into a cell in the lining of an air passage, takes over the machinery of the cell, and orders it to produce more flu viruses. Quickly engorged, the invaded cell bursts, releasing new viruses to infiltrate other cells and replicate further. Left unchecked, the onslaught would eventually kill enough cells to cause death. But the intruders soon encounter roving scavenger cells called phagocytes, which...
...viruses, however, are not finished yet. Those still multiplying inside the body's cells are momentarily safe from scavengers and antibodies, but the free lunch is over quickly. While the B cells are being activated, other helper T cells have been creating an army of killer T cells. These killers recognize the flu-ridden cells because, like macrophages, infected cells display a bit of viral antigen on their outer membranes. Says Coffman: "For many viral infections, the most important response is the killer T cell. Viruses live inside cells, so it's essential to kill not only the viruses themselves...
...killer T cells are relentless. Docking with infected cells, they shoot lethal proteins at the cell membrane. Holes form where the protein molecules hit, and the cell, dying, leaks out its insides. To ensure that the cell and its viral occupants are destroyed, the killer T cells then deliver the coup de grace by transmitting a signal that causes the cell to chew up DNA from both itself and the virus. Explains Dr. Irving Weissman of Stanford: "This is an overlapping, dual system of killing that ensures that the seed of viral production will be eliminated from the body...