Scientists study serious immune malfunction Defects in the gene
that encodes the XIAP protein result in a serious immune
malfunction. Scientists used biochemical analyses to map the
protein's ability to activate vital components of the immune
system. Their results have recently been published in Molecular
Cell, a journal of international scientific repute. Researchers
at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at
the University of Copenhagen have mapped how the XIAP protein
activates a vital component of the immune defence system,
specifically the component that fights bacterial infections in
the gastro-intestinal system: "Our results are an important step
on the way to understanding the very serious but fortunately
rare genetic immune disorder called X-linked lymphoproliferative
syndrome type 2 (XLP2), which affects male children," says
Associate Professor Mads Gyrd-Hansen from the The Novo Nordisk
Foundation Center for Protein Research, and explains more about
the disease: "The gastro-intest