A special class of immune proteins protect us from pathogens but also drive inflammation and cell death
A model showing proteins called death fold domains (green) telling a caspase enzyme (blue) to kill the cell after it has been compromised by pathogens.
Stowers Institute for Medical Research/Tayla Miller
The immune system has a tough job: When a tiny virus invades one of our cells, that cell must detect it and, within minutes, decide what to do. If the cell quickly self-destructs, that will prevent the virus from spreading throughout the body. But such a response to a false alarm will mean the cell will die unnecessarily.
