A team of Canadian and Finnish scientists has identified a
protein able to stimulate the production of T-cells, the white
blood cells involved in the recognition and the elimination of
infectious agents. The discovery by researchers of the Institute
for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université
de Montréal in Canada and the University of Oulu in Finland –
published in the latest edition of the journal Immunity – could
help to combat age-related declines in immune response. Thanks
to the work of Dr. Claude Perreault and his team, which
identified the properties of a protein called Wnt4, it is now
possible to envision news ways to reverse the age-related
decline of the immune system. "Thymic atrophy is a major public
health problem," said Dr. Perreault. "It compromises the
efficacy of vaccination and weakens the resistance to common
viruses, for instance to the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),
which is responsible each year for the hospitalization of more
than 150,000 people in the U.S. This