2014 Baker Institute News: Study reveals how parasitic worm shuts down body defenses

Abstract

This news item from the Cornell Chronicle is about: When parasitic worms invade muscle tissue, white blood cells called eosinophils rush to the scene. A study published in the Journal of Immunology this month reveals that these cells actually start a chain reaction that stops the body from launching a chemical attack on the worm, enabling the parasite to make a home within the muscle. It’s a paradox that Judith Appleton has been working on for some time: how eosinophils, long thought to defend the body against worm infections, can actually help Trichinella worms gain a foothold. Appleton, Vice Provost, Director of Engaged Cornell and the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Immunology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, says what they didn’t know before was how eosinophils actually sabotage the immune system’s response under certain circumstances.