Another cell victim of AIDS virus?Another cell victim of AIDS virus AIDS virus n. See HIV. ? The AIDS virus attacks immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. cells indirectly as well as directly according to AIDS resarchers Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute. The AIDS virus is known for its marked preference for a particular immune system cell, the T4 cell, which orchestrates the immune response immune response n. An integrated bodily response to an antigen, especially one mediated by lymphocytes and involving recognition of antigens by specific antibodies or previously sensitized lymphocytes. . But the T4 may not be the only caualty. When the virus kills a T4 cell, the cell secretes something that kills other cells around it, his laboratory has found. The chief victims: mononuclear mononuclear /mono·nu·cle·ar/ (-noo´kle-er) 1. having but one nucleus. 2. a cell having a single nucleus, especially a monocyte of the blood or tissues. mon·o·nu·cle·ar adj. cells, the scavenger cells that destroy bacteria and other foreign material. "We think it [the dying T4] liberates some proteins that lead to failure of other cells around it to thrive, and thus contributes to the pathogenesis [development] of the disease," Gallo said last week in Bethesda at a National Institutes of Health seminar. |
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