Don’t let the chubby cheeks fool you! Babies are stronger than you think!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
CD8 T-cells are the soldiers of your immune system, trained to attack enemy microbes and infected cells! But, how are these T cells different when you’re young versus when you’re older?
Enter Jocelyn Wang and team at Cornell University, who tested this question with mice.
And? They discovered that adult and infant T-cells may come from a DIFFERENT source. BUT CD8 T-cells in babies produce STRONGER immune responses to infection than adults! These infant T-cells even grew faster than T-cells from adult mice!
This makes children’s health more resilient than their parents’.
So, word to the wise: don’t arm wrestle with junior.
Reference: Wang J, Wissink EM, Watson NB, Smith NL, Grimson A, Rudd BD. Fetal and adult progenitors give rise to unique populations of CD8+ T cells. Blood. 2016 Dec 29;128(26):3073-3082. doi: 10.1182/blood-2016-06-725366. Epub 2016 Nov 15. PMID: 28034872; PMCID: PMC5201096.