Newly Identified Aspect of Cell Death May Impact the Future of Fighting Diseases

Enabling or inhibiting a certain enzyme could trigger the body’s natural immune response

Researchers have unmasked a component of the cell death process that could play a vital role in a better infection-fighting strategy. Scientists at the Duke University School of Medicine partnered with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia to identify the function behind caspase-7, an enzyme that is part of a cell’s self-destruct program. While researchers have known the enzyme is involved in the process, its exact function has been unclear. The findings were published yesterday in the journal Nature.