Protein Boosts Immunity to Viruses & Cancer

Scientists from Imperial College London (United Kingdom) report that a protein thought to have no known function and bears no resemblance to any other protein may have a central role in promoting immunity to viruses and cancer.  Experiments in mice and human cells have shown that the protein promotes the proliferation of cytotoxic T cells, which kill cancer cells and cells infected with viruses. The discovery was unexpected because the new protein had no known function and doesn’t resemble any other protein.  The researchers observe that the lymphocyte expansion molecule (LEM) promotes the proliferation of cytotoxic T cells, which kill cancer cells and cells infected with viruses, in both mice and human cells.  The study authors write that: “[the lymphocyte expansion molecule] provides a link between immune activation and the expansion of protective CD8+ T cells … and represents a pathway for the restoration of long-term protective immunity.”