Local Knowledge

To filter out waste and defend us from infection, hundreds of small glands, the lymph nodes, form a protective network around the body. Connected to each other and other tissues by the lymphatic system, they keep tabs on organ health thanks to dendritic cells, travelling immune cells that carry pathogens or products of their activity up to the lymph nodes. Information also comes from unconventional T cells (UTCs), white blood cells so called because they recognise unusual components of pathogens, such as lipids or small molecules. Researchers recently found that UTCs (pictured in a lymph node, in green) continuously migrate from tissues to their local nodes, forming distinct populations in nodes connected to different organs, like the lungs and gut. This local organisation helps the immune system to mount an appropriate response in the right location, and could inspire more effective vaccine strategies, that boost immunity where most needed.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image by Konrad Knoepper, University of Wuerzburg, Germany
• Würzburg Institute of Systems Immunology, Max Planck Research Group at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Immunity, August 2022