Science: A billion-year-old protein family in the human immune system

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Israel have discovered that the human immune system is surprisingly complex, subtle and complex, including a billion-year-old family of proteins, bacteria Use these proteins to protect yourself from viruses

The finding, published online in the journal Science, is part of a growing body of evidence that components of our immune system—like the advanced barriers to disease that exist on Earth—were in ancient life The latest discovery that forms evolved early

The study's senior author, Dr Philip Kranzusch of Dana-Farber, said: "Researchers around the world have done a great deal to understand how the human immune system works

The protein at the center of the study is called gasdermin

This process, known as pyroptosis, is a means by which the immune system kills diseased or infected cells

The human genome encodes six gasdermin proteins that are expressed at different levels in different cell types

Previous studies have reached relevant conclusions

Co-first author Dr.

"I used X-ray crystallography to determine a range of structures for these proteins, confirming in atomic detail that they are similar to mammalian structures.

Structural studies have shown that while human and bacterial gasdermins are structurally similar, bacterial versions tend to be half the size of humans, but they act as components of larger membrane pores than humans

"This is an example of a very primitive form of defense that, in humans, has been adapted and expanded through regulatory systems that allow our bodies to respond to infection or cancer," Kranzusch said

In the surprisingly complex human immune system, traces of a primitive form of immunity have been found, helping researchers better understand how the system came to be

(Biology)