Protein Discovered May Help Prevent HIV and Cancer

_{Soon, we could have effective vaccines for deadly diseases}In a major breakthrough, a group of US researchers have discovered a particular protein that can help in creating effective vaccines for life-threatening diseases like cancer and HIV. This new protein which been named as PorB can set a sequence of events at the periphery and in the lymphoid tissue of the cells which helps in protecting them against any viruses. These findings can help in the development of more advanced vaccines that offer greater protection. Vaccination refers to the administration of antigenic material, also commonly known as the vaccine, that helps a person's immune system become adaptive to a pathogen. Vaccines can prevent or reduce the rate of being affected by various diseases and infections. Vaccines do exist for most diseases, but some of the life-threatening diseases  and viral infections still don't have a cure or preventive measure. Therefore, in this field, scientists have been working really hard to develop new and more effective vaccines. A new study conducted by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), deepens the understanding of how vaccines modulate immune responses. They have found that a certain type of protein that can help make vaccines more effective and can help prevent deadly diseases like even cancer.In a general scenario, vaccines can either increase the amount of antibody production or they stimulate the cells to kill the foreign particles. But this new protein, called PorB can do both. For the study, scientists purified a protein found on the exterior of bacteria (neisseria meningidis) and used it as an accessory to provide a better vaccination response. They used two experiment models. In the first one, a vaccination with antigen and mixed PorB was given, while in the second model the antigen was administered alone.(Also read: Top 15 Cancer Fighting Foods)
It was seen that the model which received th PorB protein had an increased response to the antigen which was proved by an increase in the number of activated cells in the lymph nodes and also an increase in the production of cytotoxic T cells.Researchers conclude that the study is significant as it not only shows that the body can fight bacterial infections but also shows the possibility of preventing deadly diseases like cancer, HIV and influenza.