A team of scientists say they have discovered how the immune system activates when the human body is infected with bacteria.

A team led by Professor Kim Kyung-kyu of Sungkyunkwan University say they found how a sensor protein in protoplasm detects and fights bacterial DNA when the body is infected with bacteria or when body tissue is damaged.

The researchers say their findings will help the development of an immune treatment therapy.

Their findings have been published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.