Protein Identified in Embryo and Disease Development

Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University have discovered that a single protein called FADD (Fas-Associated protein with Death Domain) controls multiple cell death pathways, which could lead to better, more targeted autoimmune disease and cancer drugs. In the study with mice, researchers showed that the protein regulates two types of cell deaths pivotal for embryo and disease development. FADD causes apoptosis, the healthy cell death, while keeping necrosis, the toxic cell death, at bay. The mice that did not express FADD contained raised levels of RIP1 (receptor-interacting protein 1), an important protein that mediates necrosis and the apoptotic process, and their embryonic development failed due to massive necrosis. These findings suggest that with the absence or variation in expression of this one protein, an embryo may not develop properly or a person may develop disease later in life. The study was reported on in the March 2 online edition of Nature.