Discovery Challenges View of How Cells Communicate During Inflammation

When the immune system detects a threat, cells communicate with one another through signals that activate inflammation. Scientists have long understood that these signals are relayed through receptors: proteins on or inside cells that detect danger and pass along instructions.

Now, Harvard Medical School researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have reported that inflammatory signals can continue without receptors, revealing alternative pathways for cell-to-cell communication and a potential new target for treating autoimmune disease.

“The discovery of this receptor-free signaling transduction underscores the value of exploratory science as a means to expand the lexicon of life,” said senior author Jonathan Kagan, the HMS Marian R. Neutra, PhD Professor of Pediatrics at Boston Children’s.