Found in 20 percent of people of African descent: MUHC describes gene that shuts down imm...( Montreal--Caspase-12 is a molecule with...)

Montreal--Caspase-12 is a molecule with a death-wish. Found only in people of African descent, this protein shuts down our body's immune system, opening the door to potentially lethal infections. In a groundbreaking new study published in the prestigious journal Nature this week, the team that first discovered the role of caspase-12 in humans has now uncovered the mechanism by which it sabotages us, allowing researchers to develop methods to counter its damaging effects.

Caspase-12 is found in around 20% of people of African descent, but was entirely lost from all other ethnicities around 60,000 years ago. "It's a mystery why only African populations retained this enzyme," says Dr. Maya Saleh, a medical scientist in the Critical Care Division at the MUHC and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University. "It's possible that in Africa the protein could once have had a protective function fighting autoimmune diseases or perhaps parasites, like malaria; today caspase-12 provides no benefit to those who carry it, and often leaves the body more vulnerable to life-threatening infections and sepsis ('septic shock'). "Only by investigating the mechanisms by which caspase-12 works can we hope to inhibit its destructive effects," says Dr. Saleh.

Dr. Saleh and a research team from Merck and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego conducted laboratory experiments using mice deficient in the caspase-12 gene. "We discovered that caspase-12 blocks the body's inflammatory response to infection by blocking the activity of another useful enzyme," says Dr. Saleh. "It's kind of like the bad leading the good astray." Dr. Saleh's discovery is a major step forward and will allow researchers to develop treatments that may help strengthen the immune system of those people unfortunate enough to have the caspase-12 gene product.

'"/>

Contact: Ian Popple
ian.popple@muhc.mcgill.ca
514-843-1560
McGill University
19-Apr-2006

Page: 1
Related biology news :

1. Gilbert Foundation and American Fed for Aging Research award grants on Alzheimers disease
2. European Science Foundations Forward Look reaches out beyond the endless frontiers
3. Elsevier partners with National Natural Science Foundation of China
4. NY Stem Cell Foundations 2nd Annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference
5. ACMG Foundation announces 2007-2008 Luminex/ACMGF award recipient
6. The BBVA Foundation commits 2.4 million euros to research in Ecology and Conservation Biology
7. Computer science professor awarded $400,000 from National Science Foundation
8. UTSA neurobiologist awarded $225,000 from Whitehall Foundation
9. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation salutes passage of Senate stem cell bill
10. Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research recognizes Mina J. Bissell
11. Grant to Yale from Simons Foundation to explore genetic causes of autism