Search Here

Researchers have discovered a completely new way in which immune system identifies pathogens, according to a new study. 

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor recognizes environmental toxins and it also plays an important role in the immune system. The study found that virulence factors of bacteria which invaded the body also bound to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. This leads to the activation of the immune response breaking down the factors immediately. 

So far, immune biologists have ignored the possibility that the immune system directly destroys bacterial virulence factors. Therefore the role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which is expressed in many cells including immune and epithelial cells is more surprising, the press release added.

Up until now the receptor was primarily known as a binding site for environmental toxins. 

"However, it occurs in a wide range of organisms from threadworms to insects through to humans. If it is found in so many living organisms, the reason is certainly not just to recognize environmental toxins, but also to defend against infections," said Pedro Moura-Alves from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, in the press release. 

"For the pathogen, the bacterial virulence factors are a blessing and a curse at the same time: on the one hand, they facilitate infection of the host organism, but on the other hand, they help the host to track down the microbe," said Stefan H. E. Kaufmann at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. 

In future researchers will be finding out what other transcription factors the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacts with. 

The study has been published in the journal Nature.