Northwestern team finds protein that differentiates good and bad bacteria
This article was originally published in Scrip
A team of researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine has identified a protein – dubbed NLRP7 – which serves as a scout in macrophage cells, identifying bacterial cell wall components in harmful gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes.
Publishing its findings in Immunity, the Northwestern team, led by Professor Christian Stehlik, the John P Gallagher research professor of rheumatology at Feinberg, notes that activation of NLRP7 is necessary for eradicating bacterial infections through the formation of protein complexes called inflammasomes, which enable the production of defence factors in immune cells.
"Understanding how the immune system recognises these deadly intruders could one day lead to novel treatment strategies to combat these infections. Right now we are at a basic research level as this is the first description of this protein as a pathogen sensor. We need to further study the mechanism that controls the activity of this protein and its function to reach a step that will allow us to now manipulate the pathway to make the response stronger," Professor Stehlik told Scrip.
Currently, the NLRP7 research is not associated with industrial partners.