Science uncovers a new mechanism by which immune T cells recognize danger

Science, a leading academic journal, published a new research paper from Australia The study "redefines the nature of T cell antigen recognition," according to the official introduction to science As we all know, T cells are an important guard in the immune system, active in the first line of fighting against pathogens They not only protect us from bacteria and viruses, but also attack cancer cells effectively Therefore, if we can figure out how these cells recognize the dangerous molecules in the body, it will bring us better anti infection or anti-cancer therapy In the current mainstream model, T cells identify potential threats through the surface "T cell receptor" (TCR) For example, when viruses and bacteria infect the human body, the specific proteins on their surfaces will be loaded into a structure called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) for T cells to recognize It's like copying hundreds of thousands of portraits of criminal suspects and distributing them to grassroots investigators Knowing what these suspects look like, the police will be more adept at catching them In the past, we have known a lot about the α β T cell receptor It is believed that T-cell receptors are able to recognize specific signals from pathogens by "head to head" binding to MHC or MHC like molecules In this study, the scientists focused on the relative of these receptors, the receptor of γ δ T cell Specifically, the researchers obtained the three-dimensional structure of the receptor when it binds to a MHC like molecule Surprisingly, some receptors don't bind to the top of the molecule, but to the bottom! J é r? Dr me le nours made a vivid analogy: "imagine that (MHC molecule) is like a flag on a cell We always thought that T cells would sit on the top of the flagpole and read the information on the flag But we found that some T cells would first bind to the bottom " Researchers believe that this unusual recognition system is expected to help us understand how TCR binds to target molecules Given that T cells are an important weapon against disease, these insights are expected to lead to more effective therapies Due to the role of δ T cells in anti-cancer, the existing anti-cancer immunotherapy also has the opportunity to be further enhanced According to its official news, researchers will further explore the mechanism and try to apply it to the treatment of diseases.