Why immune cells do not kill themselves
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a New discovery about the immune system will help fight cancer
We have to thank our immune system, as it always vigilantly protects us from bacteria, viruses and even cancer. How it works the immune cells has been known for quite a lot. But how does such a powerful «fighters» avoid destruction of themselves and their kind while «attack on invaders»? Australian researchers from the cancer center of Peter McCallum and University College London seem to have found the answer to this question. Moreover, it allows not only to better understand the capabilities of our body, but also to develop new methods of treatment of dangerous diseases. For example, cancer.
Why immune cells do not kill your own kind
The Discovery was made during the study of the principles of operation of cells of the immune system in times of cancer. In particular, we studied cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) — this type of immune cells, which «hunt» it is , as well as cells infected with viruses or otherwise corrupted. Once they capture the objective, then use a protein called perforin, which punches holes in the foreign cell's membrane. If this protective layer is broken, the toxic molecules from T lymphocytes can penetrate into the problem cell and kill it from the inside
But there's a catch to how it works. The General view was that CTLs should be a victim of your own attacks, as they have no specific «unmarked» for their own relatives. Also, they do not always «win the battle» with the same cancer, which can be one of the reasons of origin and development of cancer in the body.
All the cells in our body is surrounded by a membrane consisting of millions of tiny lipid molecules — says the study's lead author Dr. Ilya Voskoboynikov in an interview . We found that the lipids in the membranes of CTLs are more tightly Packed compared with the cells that they're trying to kill. Than more densely Packed lipids, the less permeable is the membrane for the action of perforin.
In the new study, scientists have thought that the answer, it seems, lies in the outer shell. Moreover, the membrane of CTLs is more dense than in the target cells, and some of the molecules of lipids that are negatively charged. This allows them to reflect proteins perforin (with negative charge), thus preventing their damage.
To test this hypothesis, the researchers artificially destroyed the lipids in the membranes of cells and CTLs. Of course, these immune cells have lost part of its resistance to perforin, after which they become vulnerable to «normal» lymphocytes. The team says that some cancer cells could enhance their own membranes in a similar way, making them similar to those that have cytotoxic lymphocytes. And those that do this «do not have time» not being protected. About such discoveries we often write on our portal. So , in order not to miss anything.
The Efficiency of modern approaches to immunotherapy depends on the ability of CTLs to kill tumor cells, says Jesse Rudd-Schmidt, another author of this work. If some cancer cells can reorganize its outer membrane, that they resembled a densely Packed and negatively charged membrane of CTLs, it may protect them from destruction by the immune system. But this can be dealt with.
Now scientists aimed at identifying ways to damage the cell wall of cancer cells to make them vulnerable to damage of immune system cells. You need to be careful as this technique can cause deterioration of the immune system. But if scientists succeed, then this discovery may lead to the creation of .
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