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REPORTAGE
Chicken proteins thought to cause immune exhaustion Two chicken proteins that may be involved in immune regulation of cancerous cells and viral infection, named Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), have been characterised for the first time by scientists at The Pirbright Institute. They demonstrated that the protein structures and interactions were highly similar to those in humans and other animals, where activation of these proteins is known to cause immune cell ‘exhaustion’ and prevent the immune system from destroying infected cells. Their work will provide the basis for the development of immunotherapy treatments that block the pathway, which could revive immune cells and enable them to clear infection. The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is well understood in humans and its role in chronic viral infections is well established, but little research has been carried out on these proteins in birds. In a study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Pirbright scientists characterised the chicken PD-1 and PD-L1 proteins (chPD-1 and chPD-L1) and determined that their predicted structure and interactions were similar to that of humans and other species, suggesting that they
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