Researchers from University of North Carolina Health Care, found that a newly identified protein, NLRC3 can inhibit a major inflammatory pathway, controlled by another protein called NF-Kappa B.
NF-Kappa B activation has been long associated with inflammation and cancer promotion.
NLRC3 is from the NLR family of proteins which function as activators of inflammation.
The team found that NLRC3 inhibits this major inflammatory pathway through a completely different mechanism. NLRC3 directly interacts with the molecule TRAF6 and forms a novel, previously uncharacterised protein complex described as a 'TRAFasome'.
TRAF6 is a key regulator of NF-kappaB and is a critical step in the regulation of inflammation.
In pre-clinical models, the team was able to show that NLRC3 and the formation of the TRAFasome was important in regulating the immune response during endotoxic shock, a serious hyperinflammatory process typically associated with severe infection.
The study was published in the journal Nature Immunology.