Billions of cells die daily in the human body as part of routine tissue maintenance. Researchers at VIB and Ghent University have discovered that a protein known primarily for sensing cellular stress also functions as a cholesterol sensor in certain immune cells.
The specialized immune cells use this protein to safely process dying cells while maintaining immune system balance, the researchers found. The work, published in Nature Communications, explains how the protein enables these cells to prevent harmful immune reactions against healthy tissue.
