Cell death: How a protein drives immune cells to suicide
Thursday, July 14, 2016 - 10:31
in Biology & Nature
For some pathogens, attack is the best form of defense—they enter immune cells of the human body. However, if they are detected in their hidden niche, the infected cell kills itself to re-expose the pathogens. In the EMBO Journal a research group at the University of Basel's Biozentrum has reported that a protein called gasdermin forms permeable pores in the cell membrane and thus triggers the suicide of the immune cell.