Arginine is an amino acid that supports many essential functions throughout the body. It helps cells build proteins that carry out a wide range of biological processes. The body produces arginine naturally, and people also obtain it from many protein-rich foods. Abnormally low arginine levels have been linked to several diseases, including colon cancer.
Sohail Tavazoie, who leads Rockefeller University's Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology, has spent years studying this connection. In 2023, his team reported that depriving colon cancer cells of arginine caused them to accumulate more mutations.
Their latest research shows that arginine deficiency may also weaken the immune system. When arginine is scarce, cells struggle to produce MHC-1, a protein that helps alert the immune system to threats such as mutated cells and invading viruses.
Arginine May Restore a Key Immune Signal
The researchers also found that a moderate amount of arginine, roughly equivalent to the quantity in a couple of over-the-counter tablets, could potentially restore expression of the genes involved in MHC-1 production. The findings were published in Cell.
