Scientists discover new information about how enzymes from white blood cells function
Monday, January 5, 2015 - 17:00
in Health & Medicine
As a part of the human immune system, white blood cells create a number of enzymes that help fight disease. Sometimes, these enzymes damage tissues in inflammatory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and heart disease. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri, have determined that one of these enzymes, known as MMP12, does not remain outside of cells while it fights infections, but rather it can travel all the way to the center of cells. Steven Van Doren, a professor in the MU Department of Biochemistry, says understanding how this and other enzymes function is an important step to creating treatments for inflammatory diseases.