Every moment we live, cells in our bodies are dying. One type of cell death activates an immune response while another type doesn't. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis have figured out how some dying cells signal the immune system. They say the finding eventually could have important implications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
In the July 18 issue of the journal Immunity, the researchers report a molecule, called high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1), which cells release when they die, seems to determine whether the immune system is alerted. But what happens to HMGB1 after it's made and whether the immune system ever gets the signal depends on how the cell dies.
"Cells die in two general ways: apoptosis, or programmed cell death, and necrosis, which results from injuries and infections," says Thomas A. Ferguson, Ph.D., a senior investigator on the study and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University. "In general, we don't want the immune system to respond to apoptosis, but we do want an immune response following necrosis because necrotic death can be a sign of infection. Necrotic cells release components to stimulate the immune system, and one is the HMGB1molecule."
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