Scientists, including those of Indian-origin, have identified new types of blood cells in the human immune system. The cells are new classes of types of white blood cells called dendritic cells and monocytes, researchers said. Researchers from New York University, MIT, and Harvard in the US, identified two new dendritic cell subtypes and two monocyte subtypes. They have also discovered a new dendritic cell progenitor.
Researchers used a technique called single-cell genomics to analyze gene expression patterns in individual human blood cells. Previously, different types of immune cells were investigated and defined by the set of marker proteins that they express on their surface. This new technique is much more powerful and can reveal previously unrecognized and rare cell types that would be otherwise difficult to find. Dendritic cells display molecules called antigens on their surfaces.…
