B lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell of the lymphocyte subtype. They function in the humoral immunity component of the adaptive immune system. B cells produce antibody molecules which may be either secreted or inserted into the plasma membrane where they serve as a part of B-cell receptors. When a naïve or memory B cell is activated by an antigen, it proliferates and differentiates into an antibody-secreting effector cell, known as a plasmablast or plasma cell.
Ribosomes are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to form polypeptide chains. Ribosomes consist of two major components: the small and large ribosomal subunits. Each subunit consists of one or more ribosomal RNA (rRNA) molecules and many ribosomal proteins (RPs or r-proteins). The ribosomes and associated molecules are also known as the translational apparatus.
Yandere Shigaraki Tomura X Consensual F!Reader: Multi-Chapter Story
Read the entire story at: Archive of Our Own
Story Rating: Explicit - however this chapter is (mostly) SFW
You stood up, knees snapping audibly. Smoothing your lab coat you walked over and stood by the edge of Dr. Garaki’s chair. “So what was so urgent that you dragged me away from my rotation?” You snorted at the thick, winding root-like wires running across the floor. Nothing down here had been cleaned in fifty years or more. “Did the maid service cancel and now you need me to dust?”
“You’ve been edgy of late,” he replied dismissively. “Is the stress of your impending boards getting to you?”
Your eyes rolled and you clicked your tongue. “Oh I’m sorry …” You thumbed your chest. “I haven’t gotten laid since you banned me from talking to Tomura,” you lied. Your arms crossed and you snorted. “Of course I’m going to be edgy!”
The Doctor frowned at you. “I haven’t engaged in sexual activities in over seventy years and I am still functioning perfectly.”
You stomped your foot and pointed to the bubbling tanks. “Oh, like you need to get some! This is all you need to get your jollies!”
As the quiet burbling of the nearby incubators echoes through the dim lighting The Doctor sneered at you. “I find this form of creation infinitely more intellectually satisfying than a simple carnal act.”
You gripped your head and ruffled your hair in frustration. “Good for you but that’s not how I work.”
The Doctor stroked his chin thoughtfully and looked you up and down. “I suppose that is in line with what All For One had intended. You were supposed to be a companion more than a colleague.” He waved his hand over his shoulder. “Very well, purchase yourself something to take care of the problem and bring me the receipt for reimbursement."
You gritted your dentures so hard they made a clicking noise. “And think of you every time I use it?” You made a gagging motion with your index finger. “I’d rather die.”
Read the rest of the chapter at: Archive of Our Own
"One kiss is enough": the viral strategy to reprogram immunity and drive it "self-ish"
Introduction
One of humanity’s most ubiquitous infectious pathogens bears the blame for the chronic autoimmune condition called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or, colloquially, lupus, Stanford Medicine investigators and their colleagues have found. Several hundred thousand Americans (by some estimates close to a million) and about 5 million worldwide have lupus, in which the immune system…
Neuromyelitis optica "taken out of Breg": lymphocyte and cytokine signatures will grant the treatment conditions
No autoimmune diseases can currently be cured, only treated, and this is also true for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NEMOSD). Neuromyelitis optica disorder spectrum is one of them and it causes inflammation of the central nervous system, leading to vision and sensory loss, weakness and bladder dysfunction. The condition, which sometimes flares up in waves, has a treatment consisting of…
A recent study uncovers the important role of a type of mother’s immune cells called B lymphocytes in resisting preterm birth triggered by inflammation. The study was conducted under the leadership of Kang Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor at Wayne State University. Preterm birth can be defined as child birth before normal 37 weeks of pregnancy which affects up to one in every six births in the…
Why do some neuroblastoma patients have “dancing eyes”?
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, led by principal investigator and acting division head of Neurology Wendy Mitchell, MD, have been at the forefront of studying treatment and outcome Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome or OMS (also known as the “dancing eyes” syndrome or Opsoclonus-Ataxia).
OMS affects roughly 1 in every 200 patients with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. Neuroblastoma is found in approximately 80% of infants and toddlers with OMS. It can also occur in older children and adolescents, rarely related to neuroblastoma or other cancers, more often after infection.
While neuroblastoma in patients presenting with OMS has nearly a 100% event-free survival rate, OMS can have severe short- and long-term neurological and developmental effects. It is thought that OMS is triggered by immune responses to the neuroblastoma, with immune cross-reactivity with normal cells in the brain, most likely in cerebellum. While the tumors themselves often regress or even disappear as a result of immune response, the same immune responses can also adversely affect the brain, resulting in cognitive, adaptive, behavioral, and motor deficits. These immunologically based responses continue, despite removal of the tumor, resulting in ongoing symptoms of OMS.
Patients with OMS often have unsteadiness of walking, or lose ability to walk (ataxia), tremor of hands, as well as rapid, “dancing” movement of the eyes in horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions (known as opsoclonus). Patients may experience nausea and severe behavioral deficits, including profound irritability. Even after treatment with strong immunosuppressive medications, children with OMS may have recurrent symptoms with minor infections, or when their immunosuppressive medications are lowered. They may also often experience long-term cognitive and motor difficulty, such as speech and language deficits, as well as difficulty sleeping. The goal of OMS treatment is to reduce or eliminate these long-term conditions.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Child Neurology, Mitchell and her team reported that aggressive immunosuppressive treatment is key to improving long-term behavioral, cognitive, adaptive, and motor functions to normal or near normal levels. Treatment of OMS generally combines multiple forms of immunosuppression, including a medication that targets B lymphocytes, a type of immune cell. In OMS patients, activated B lymphocytes been found in increased numbers in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Immunosuppressive medications used to treat OMS include corticosteroids and/or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which often help dramatically and immediately. However, side effects are severe and treatment cannot be sustained with ACTH or corticosteroids alone at high doses. Intravenous immunoglobulin is also used to suppress inflammation along with chemotherapy agents which also reduce the immune response. More recently, the drug rituximab has been added to standard OMS treatment to decrease the number of activated B cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, promote longer term remission, and reduce the need for very long term high dose corticosteroids or ACTH.
Many questions about OMS still remain unanswered. It is unclear whether a specific tumor antigen in the neuroblastoma is associated with the development of OMS, or exactly what the immune target is in the brain. Mitchell also suggests there may be a second immune stimulating event in addition to the neuroblastoma (such as an immunization or immunization) that triggers OMS.
“The important takeaway message for parents is that OMS can be difficult to diagnosis,” said Mitchell. It is also difficult to find the neuroblastomas, which are small and hidden. “It is especially critical to include the expertise of a radiologist who is highly experienced in cases of OMS, and in detecting occult neuroblastoma tumors.” Mitchell and the team of radiologists at CHLA, who frequent provide second opinions in OMS cases, and have detected tiny tumors missed at other pediatric centers. CHLA surgeons have considerable experience in removing the small neuroblastomas that are found.
