Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 31 July 2009:
Vol. 325. no. 5940, pp. 549 - 550
DOI: 10.1126/science.1178329
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

Immunology:

Dispensable But Not Irrelevant

Ting Jia1 and Eric G. Pamer1,2

In the left upper quadrant of the abdomen lies the spleen, functioning in two major capacities—filtering and storing blood cells, and acting as an immune tissue, where antibody synthesis occurs and certain pathogens are eliminated. Yet the spleen lacks the gravitas of neighboring organs because we can survive without it, albeit with some inconveniences. Its surgical removal causes modest increases in circulating white blood cells and platelets, diminished responsiveness to certain vaccines, and increased susceptibility to infection with certain bacteria and protozoa. But on page 612 in this issue, the organ gains some new respect, as Swirski et al. (1) show that in the mouse, the spleen serves as a reservoir for immune cells (monocytes) that function in repairing the heart after myocardial infarction.

1 Immunology Program, Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York, NY 10065, USA.
2 Infectious Diseases Service, Memorial Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.

E-mail: pamere{at}mskcc.org

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)