Scientists identify mechanism that activates T cells to fight disease

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have identified a new mechanism that activates T cells, white blood cells that play an important role in fighting infections. Specifically, they focused on how dendritic cells, the immune cells located at the site of an infection, become more specialized to fight the leprosy pathogen Mycobacterium leprae and deliver information that helps activate the T cells to launch a more effective attack. This is done through a protein called NOD2, which triggers the molecule interleukin-32, inducing general immune cells to become specialized dendritic cells. "This is the first time that this potent infection-fighting pathway with dendritic cells has been identified and demonstrated to be important in fighting human disease," the study's first author, Mirjam Schenk, said. The scientists now plan to manipulate the immune system to induce a potent immune response in human infections, and possibly for cancer immunotherapy as well.