The research checked out Protein L, a molecule from the bacterium finegoldia magna. When IgM hooked up to Protein L, it dramatically elevated the toxin’s resistance to breaking up.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Antibodies are normally seen as chemical keys that unlock and disable microbes. But new analysis suggests they’ll additionally work like braces, bodily stiffening dangerous proteins so they can not harm our cells.
The focus is on IgM, the biggest antibody in our physique and one of many first to answer infections. A workforce on the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, has proven that IgM not solely binds to invaders however may mechanically stabilise bacterial toxins, retaining them from unfolding beneath stress.
The research checked out Protein L, a molecule from the bacterium finegoldia magna. When IgM hooked up to Protein L, it dramatically elevated the toxin’s resistance to breaking up. In easy phrases, the antibody acted like a assist beam, holding the protein in place. The impact grew stronger as IgM ranges elevated.
The scientists recommend this occurs as a result of IgM has many binding websites, permitting it to grip the toxin at a number of factors directly. Smaller antibodies can’t do that, giving IgM a distinctive protecting position.
Inside the physique, micro organism are sometimes subjected to mechanical forces corresponding to blood move. If IgM can disarm toxins by making them bodily inflexible, it factors to a new approach of designing antibody therapies — ones that don’t simply neutralise pathogens chemically, but additionally mechanically.
Published on September 8, 2025