Prof. Dr. H.-W. Ziegler-Heitbrock
Neuherberg, 11.08.2010. Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University of Leicester, together with an international committee, have developed a new, official nomenclature for blood cells. The renowned journal “Blood” published the nomenclature in July 2010 – it has already been adopted by the IUIS (International Union of Immunological Societies) and is thus supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
A new nomenclature for leukocytes (white blood cells) has been officially adopted by the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS), an organization affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO). This uniform nomenclature became necessary due to the discovery of two new types of leukocytes, CD16-positive monocytes and dendritic blood cells.
Since 2008, a committee of leading immunologists, chaired by Professor Ziegler-Heitbrock of Helmholtz Zentrum München, has worked on the new leukocyte nomenclature. In the future the committee will meet regularly to discuss any revisions that may be necessary due to new findings.
Background:
White blood cells, i.e. leukocytes, are an integral part of the human immune system. Leukocytes are a well-studied, heterogenous group of cells, which includes lymphocytes, monocytes, granulocytes, and other cell types. In 1989, Professor Ziegler-Heitbrock described a new type of leukocytes, which were called CD16-positive monocytes. In addition in recent years researchers have described dendritic cells in the blood. Both cell populations were often given different names, which led to a lot of confusion and created the need for a consistent nomenclature.
Further Information:
Original publication: Ziegler-Heitbrock L. et al.: Nomenclature of monocytes and dendritic cells in blood. Blood First Edition Paper, prepublished online July 13, 2010;DOI 10.1182/blood-2010-02-258558. Blood, Journal of the American Society of Hematology
Helmholtz Zentrum München is the German Research Center for Environmental Health. As leading center of Environmental Health, it focuses on chronic and complex diseases, which develop from the interaction of environmental factors and individual genetic disposition. Helmholtz Zentrum München has around 1700 staff members. The head office of the center is located in Neuherberg to the north of Munich on a 50-hectare research campus. Helmholtz Zentrum München belongs to the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s largest research organization, a community of 16 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of 30,000 staff members. – www.helmholtz-muenchen.de
Contact for Media Representatives
Sven Winkler, Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1,
85764 Neuherberg, Germany - Phone: +49(0)89-3187-3946, Fax +49(0)89-3187-3324, Internet: www.helmholtz-muenchen.de, presse@helmholtz-muenchen.de
SOURCE