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BOSTON - B cells are the immune cells responsible for creating antibodies, and most B cells, known as B2 cells, produce antibodies in response to a pathogen or a vaccine, providing defense and immunity against infections. But a small subset of long-lived B cells, known as B1 cells, are quite different from their short-lived cousins, the B2 cells. Instead of producing antibodies in response to invaders, they spontaneously make antibodies that perform vital housekeeping functions, such as removing waste like oxidized LDL cholesterol from the blood.
Like all the cells in the body, B1 and B2 cells have the same DNA, and therefore the same starting set of instructions. It is through epigenetic modifications, which open and close different areas of the genome to the machinery that reads the genetic instructions, that the same genome can be used to create unique instructions for each cell type. Understanding how the different epigenetic landscapes - the changes in instructions -
Two medical students receive Dorothy Wolff Fellowships for projects focusing on otolaryngology By Kylee Denesha March 31, 2021
Two School of Medicine students have been awarded Dorothy Wolff Fellowships in Otolaryngology Research from UMass Medical School. Third-year students Sara Holmes and Maimuna Ahmad will receive funding for independent projects that will begin this summer and continue through the academic year.
Maimuna Ahmad and Sara Holmes
The fellowships honor the late Dorothy Wolff, PhD, a pioneer in otologic pathology who worked in the mid-20th century during a revolution in ear surgery and set the stage for women in otopathology. Fellowship students will take dedicated time away from their clinical duties to pursue otolaryngology research. Topics may include basic science projects, clinical research or translational work that relates to diseases or disorders of the head and neck.