Ion channel VRAC transports the messenger substance cGAMP from cell to cell (IMAGE)

Forschungsverbund Berlin

Ion channel VRAC transports the messenger substance cGAMP from cell to cell

Caption

Upon infection of cells with a DNA virus (left), viral DNA binds to the enzyme cGAS which then synthesizes the messenger molecule cGAMP. The present work shows that cGAMP can leave the cell through the anion channel VRAC and diffuses to non-infected cells in the vicinity. After entering the cell - again through VRAC - it binds to a receptor called STING and stimulates indirectly the synthesis of interferon, which leaves the cell and suppresses, after binding to a receptor, the propagation of the virus (left cell). This provides a powerful amplification of the innate immune response against DNA viruses.

Credit

Rosa Planells-Cases

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