Humans and sharks share immune system feature

Friday, September 30, 2011 - 11:30 in Biology & Nature

A central element of the immune system has remained constant through more than 400 million years of evolution, according to new research. T-cell receptors from mice continue to function even when pieces of shark, frog and trout receptors are substituted in. The function of the chimeric receptors depends on a few crucial amino acids, found also in humans, that help the T-cell receptor bind to MHC molecules presenting antigens.

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