The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 3a: “Dengue Fever”

Multiple Langerhans Cells being infected by the dengue virus.
In this blog post, we explain what dengue fever is and what role mast cells play in this viral infection.

In this episode, Mast Cell releases a lot of histamine when she detects a harmless substance near the skin. Histamine splashes on the cells, making them wet and prone to electrical shocks while white blood cells are attracted to nothing. Mast Cell tries to defend herself from the angry comments of the other cells, but after being called “hysterical”, Mast Cell goes on a rampage, vowing never to do anything again. Afterwards, dengue virus is injected from a mosquito and infects Langerhans Cell and his co-workers, where they blow the other cells away. Mast Cell stops herself from releasing histamine, fearing she will only trouble the other cells. However, on Basophil’s urging, she releases histamine which attracts the white blood cells to kill the dengue virus-infected cells, saving the other cells.

In this blog post, I will touch on both the disease dengue fever and the chemical histamine. I will talk about the dengue virus and dengue fever. I will then describe what histamine does in the body before discussing whether mast cells play a good or bad role in dengue fever.

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The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 3b: “Acne”

Acne Bacteria heading towards Neutrophil and the other hair cells.
In this episode, we look at how acne develops in the body, particularly the main bacterium involved.

In this episode, Neutrophil visits an infected hair root where the hair cells are enslaved by Acne Bacteria. Neutrophil saves young Hair Matrix Cell who tries to fight the Acne Bacteria, but the Acne Bacteria injure Neutrophil and throw him and Hair Matrix Cell into the pit. In the pit, Hair Matrix Cell tells the story of how the hair cells were enslaved by Acne Bacteria when a pimple was formed before showing Neutrophil the stacks of dead neutrophils. This motivates Neutrophil to eliminate the Acne Bacteria, so after coming back up, he battles against the Acne King. As Neutrophil struggles to defeat the Acne King, Hair Matrix Cell motivates the other hair cells to not give up, leading them to raise the sebum levels in an attempt to drown the Acne King. The Acne King tries to flee but moves too slowly, allowing Neutrophil to kill him. Neutrophil later re-emerges from a sebum pipe after all the Acne Bacteria are killed, to the relief of the other neutrophils and hair cells. 

Even though the episode gives a good overview of what acne is, particularly that bacteria are involved, that is only part of the story. There are many factors that contribute to the development of acne. In fact, the presence of white blood cells such as neutrophils is not only insufficient for curing acne but can also worsen acne. In this blog post, I will explain what acne is, how it develops in real life and how it can be treated. 

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The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 2b: “Peyer’s Patch”

Fried chicken containing Campylobacter bacteria head towards Neutrophil and Killer T cell.
In this episode, we look at how the body defends itself against gut-associated pathogens such as Campylobacter.

In this episode, Neutrophil takes the red blood cells on a tour to the small intestine. On the way to the tea room, Killer T Cell stops and berates Neutrophil for not focusing on his job. Their argument gets cut short; though, by Campylobacter who invades the gut and demands the white blood cells to help him and his friends establish a colony. Intestinal Epithelial Cell, being taken as a hostage, tells Campylobacter about an area in the intestine where it is easy to infiltrate and infect. Campylobacter releases the hostage and goes inside the area, only to be met by M Cell who tells him to enjoy his last meal. Campylobacter suddenly gets surprised by the white blood cells who attack him and his friends, forcing them to flee. Killer T Cell forgives Neutrophil for underestimating him, only to take it back when Neutrophil forgets to serve tea to the red blood cells and rushes out of the room.

In this blog post, I will describe what Campylobacter bacteria are and how they cause gastrointestinal infection. I will then describe what Peyer’s patches are and how they assist in detecting and responding to gastrointestinal infection.

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The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 2a: “Adaptive Immunity”

Memory Cell seeing meteorites from the mumps vaccine.
In this episode, we look at how Memory Cell can generate (past) visions of a vaccine to protect people against mumps.

In this episode, Mumps Virus invades the parotid gland in the head, fulfilling Memory Cell’s visions of a future invasion by the virus. As Mumps Virus replicates quickly to overwhelm the white blood cells, Memory Cell tries to see the future as Plasma Cell struggles to bring him back to reality. As Memory Cell and Plasma Cell rummage through the records to find clues on the Mumps Virus, Memory Cell is still overwhelmed by the visions, prompting Plasma Cell to hit him on the head. Memory Cell then remembers that what he was seeing was actually in the past, where the white blood cells easily defeated weakened Mumps Virus from a mumps vaccine and Memory Cell made a record of the virus. Remembering what happened in the past, Plasma Cell and Memory Cell bring up a huge antibody gun to easily defeat the Mumps Virus and eliminate the infection, to the relief of the other cells.

In this blog post, I will go through what mumps is and how it arises. I will then explain how vaccines work in preventing mumps infection from becoming severe.

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The Science behind “Cells at Work!!” Episode 1: “Bump”

Platelets facing towards Megakaryocyte in the anime version of the bone marrow
In this episode, we’ll look at how platelets develop in the body.

In this episode, Neutrophil meets Backward Cap Platelet who is training alone to become stronger. Backward Cap Platelet struggles to work with the other platelets to form a primary blood clot, but she receives encouragement from Neutrophil to use her positive attitude to motivate the other platelets. Walking along the temporal vein in the head, they are struck by a head bump which ruptures the capillaries, sending the cells flying in zero gravity. The platelets, including Backward Cap Platelet, try unsuccessfully to form a primary blood clot. They are spurred on by Megakaryocyte; though, to form the primary blood clot and the fibrin mesh, with Backward Cap Platelet risking her life to save a stray coagulation factor. The platelets save the day as they seal the damage and are rewarded for their hard work.

Following on from previous blog posts where I describe how red and white blood cells and T cells develop in the body, in this blog post I will talk about how platelets develop in the body, how platelets assist in repairing the damage produced by bruises and head bumps and the factors that can enhance platelet activity.

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