Overlooked Molecules May Revolutionize Understanding of the Immune System
Thousands of new immune system signals have been uncovered with potential implications for immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and vaccine development.
The researchers behind the finding say it is the biological equivalent of discovering a new continent.
Our cells regularly break down proteins from our own bodies and from foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria. Small fragments of these proteins, called epitopes, are displayed on the surface of the cells like little flags so that the immune system can scan them. If they are recognised as foreign, the immune system will destroy the cell to prevent the spread of infection.
In a new study, researchers have discovered that around one third of all the epitopes displayed for scanning by the immune system are a type known as ‘spliced’ epitopes.
These spliced epitopes were thought to be rare, but the scientists have now identified thousands of them by developing a new method that allowed them to map the surface of cells and identify a myriad of previously unknown epitopes.
“A large fraction of HLA class I ligands are proteasome-generated spliced peptides” by Juliane Liepe, Fabio Marino, John Sidney, Anita Jeko, Daniel E. Bunting, Alessandro Sette, Peter M. Kloetzel, Michael P. H. Stumpf1, Albert J. R. Heck, and Michele Mishto in Science. Published online October 21 2016 doi:10.1126/science.aaf4384
Impression of the immune system attacking a virus. The Y-shaped stalks are the epitopes. NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Imperial College London press release.