Scientists uncover unified mechanism behind immune response

Top scientists from across India and the world have come to a conclusion that innate immune signalling or the human body’s first line of non-specific defence against foreign bodies, autophagy — cell’s clean-up and recycling system as well as different forms of programmed cell death work together rather than as isolated pathways.

The cell ‘disturbances’ in one pathway can strongly affect the others, influencing diseases ranging from infections and autoimmune disorders to cancer and neurodegeneration, they concluded during the three-day India-EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organisation) Lecture Course on ‘Cell-Autonomous Defense and Innate Immunity’ organised art the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here last week.

Leading scientists discussed how cells protect themselves from infection and damage. The major highlight has been that instead of treating different immune processes separately, it was realised that a cell’s defense, clean-up machinery, and self-destruct programs are all tightly interconnected.

Senior principal scientist and lead organiser Santosh Chauhan said scientists at the meeting shared evidence that all cells have a ‘first-responder system’ that can sense invading microbes, remove damaged components from cells and activate emergency shutdown programs in cells when necessary. Understanding these early defence steps is helping explain why some infections or inflammatory conditions become severe while others do not, he said.

That there is a uniform mechanism linking different methods used by immune cells use to kill foreign bodies has been accepted. This framework is reshaping how scientists think about how cells die during infection or inflammation, and how these processes might be targeted in developing new therapies, explained Mr. Chauhan.

The event also saw new research insights into how cells tag, sequester and clear invading microbes. These internal “quality-control” systems are now recognised as central players in immunity, opening avenues for host-directed treatments that strengthen the body’s own defenses rather than targeting pathogens directly.

“We have had a direct exposure to the newest ideas and tools shaping global immunology during the meeting. The discussions are expected to spark new collaborations and help accelerate research on infectious diseases, inflammation and cell-based therapies within the country,” added the scientist in a press release.