Discover new role of protein

A family of proteins known to be surprisingly resistant to bacteria, while also helping to identify a dog with black, white, or half-white, half-black fur, according to US researchers. October 18. This is a finding that may help explain why people have different skin and body weights.

Researchers at Stanford University in California looked at the DNA of hundreds of dogs, looking for mutations that control the color of the coat. They were surprised to find that the gene controlling the coat color where dogs also control a protein family called defensin is believed to protect the body from bacterial invasion.

'It links an entire family of genes, the defensin family, previously thought to be another pathway, the melanocortin pathway,' said Dr. Gregory Barsh of Stanford University. This path plays an important role in controlling body weight and pigmentation, which brings Barsh to the study of dog hair color.

Barsh said that the volatility or flexibility of defensin genes can give dogs - and humans - the ability to respond to environmental changes . 'These changes are a way of responding to things that change rapidly on an evolutionary level,' says Barsh, which also makes them intuitively attractive.

(Photo: Reuters)

'One of the things that changes very quickly in evolution is pathogens. We wonder if defensin may be more involved in whether or not organisms cope with environmental challenges, ' Barsh said.

This explains the coat color, which is used as a camouflage vehicle to better adapt to the environment.'When we see defensin differences in different people, we can look at differences in body weight, production of cortisol and differences in hair color, eyes or skin,' said Barsh.

In 2003, a group of scientists at the National Cancer Institute (USA) discovered a gene that makes cats' hairs black, and reddish human hair, which can affect the possibility of infection. cells of bacteria and viruses.

(Photo: Reuters)

Q.HONG