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Science 9 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5741, pp. 1682 - 1683
DOI: 10.1126/science.1118340
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Perspectives

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IMMUNOLOGY:
Enhanced: Dietary Factors and Immunological Consequences

Timothy Hla

The lipid sphingosine 1-phosphate acts through cell surface receptors expressed on the surface of lymphocytes. In his Perspective, Hla discusses how the degradative action of sphingosine 1-phosphate lyase in tissues helps establish the steep vascular gradient of this lipid. Inhibition of the lyase by dietary factors disrupts the gradient, reducing T cell trafficking and thereby supressing immunity.

The author is at the Center for Vascular Biology, Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA. E-mail: hla{at}nso2.uchc.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Sphingosine Kinase Type 2 Activation by ERK-mediated Phosphorylation.
N. C. Hait, A. Bellamy, S. Milstien, T. Kordula, and S. Spiegel (2007)
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Polyunsaturated fatty acids, membrane organization, T cells, and antigen presentation.
S. R. Shaikh and M. Edidin (2006)
Am. J. Clinical Nutrition 84, 1277-1289
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