ArabidopsisCOURTESY OF LIBO SHAN, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
After a plant has detected and destroyed invading bacteria, its innate immune system must be turned off to prevent a prolonged immune response from damaging the plant's tissues. This downregulation of the immune system in Arabidopsis falls on the shoulders of two novel proteins that target and degrade innate immune receptors after an infection, according to a study published this week in Science.
The mechanism, which has direct parallels in human immune signaling pathways, offers basic insights that might someday help to develop therapeutics against autoimmune diseases, which arise from an overactive immune response.
"It's a beautiful piece of biology," said Luke O'Neill, an immunologist at Trinity College in Dublin, who was not involved in the research. "It's intriguing that the same system is used ...
