HANOVER, NH White blood cells are the principle mediators of
immune system function, yet efforts to influence their role in
illness have been hampered due to a lack of understanding of the
surface structure of these cells until now. Dartmouth Medical
School researchers characterize the structure of white blood
cells and challenge assumptions about how a certain
immunodeficiency disorder affects the white blood cell surface
in the September 1 issue of Blood, the journal of the American
Society of Hematology. Their findings could have a large impact
on treatments for autoimmune diseases such as diabetes,
rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as well as AIDS and cancer
metastasis. The researchers, led by Henry N. Higgs, assistant
professor of biochemistry at Dartmouth Medical School used
scanning electron microscopy to analyze the finger-like
projections coating white blood cells known as microvilli. "If
you asked most medical scientists what a white blood cell looked
like they would say a smooth sphere that floats ar