News
Immune cell signalling action of IL-27 uncovered
Published on 3 August 2022
A collaboration between the labs of Ignacio Moraga and Doryen Bubeck at Imperial have determined how an important component of the immune system
![Ignacio Moraga and Paul Fyfe](http://cdn-acquia.dundee.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/featured_image_desktop_1440w/public/2022-08/Ignacio%20Moraga%20and%20Paul%20Fyfe%20-%20August%202022%20copy.jpg?itok=zbTyiivE)
Our immune system relies on complex signalling between different cells to activate different responses. Now, a collaboration between the labs of Ignacio Moraga and Doryen Bubeck at Imperial have determined how an important component of the immune system – a ‘cytokine’ protein called interleukin 27 (IL-27) – elicits an immune response.
IL-27 is made up of two different parts called EBI3 and p28. Together, these make up a signal that is recognized by protein receptors to control inflammation during an immune response. The team used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to reveal in molecular detail the interaction interfaces between IL-17 and its two receptors that control signalling.
The team say the structure they discovered will provide a blueprint for designing new therapeutic cytokines that can tune the strength of these immune messages.
Read the full paper EMBO Reports: ‘Structural insights into the assembly and activation of the IL-27 signalling complex’.
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