Cross-border · Research, innovation and assessment · Germany
Borstel and Graz researchers link gut archaea immune response to the amount of archaeal RNA
A team from the Research Center Borstel and the Medical University of Graz found that two common gut archaea trigger similar immune programmes that differ in speed and strength.
Why it matters: The joint study by the Research Center Borstel and the Medical University of Graz names archaeal RNA quantity as the apparent driver of immune activation.
A team from the Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center (FZB) and the Medical University of Graz studied how immune cells react to the gut archaea Methanosphaera stadtmanae and Methanobrevibacter smithii, according to a press release.
The researchers report that both microorganisms set off a similar immune programme but differ in how quickly and how strongly they activate immune cells.
According to the team, the amount of archaeal RNA that reaches the immune cells appears to be the deciding factor.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
The study, a joint project of FZB and the Medical University of Graz, concerns two archaea that commonly occur in the human gut; the team identifies the amount of archaeal RNA entering immune cells as what apparently determines the speed and strength of activation.
