Study Shows How Beryllium Causes Deadly Lung Disease

Researchers in a recent study have identified how metal beryllium triggers a deadly immune response in the lungs. In the July 3, 2014, issue of the journal emCell/em John Kappler, PhD, and his colleagues show how a genetic susceptibility to the disease creates a molecular pocket in an immune system protein, which captures beryllium ions and triggers an inflammatory response in the lungs. The findings describe for the first time an immune response that lies somewhere between ...