New Discovery Identifies “Don’t Eat Me” Protein that Allows Lyme Bacteria to Evade Body’s Immune Response"However, this study shows that P66 is a bacterial “don’t eat me” signal encouraging the macrophage to ignore the bacteria by binding to a receptor on the macrophages’ surface called SIRP-alpha. This type of “don’t eat me” signal is a known mechanism in cancer and more recently, atherosclerosis. Specifically, the human “don’t eat me” signal protein CD47 binds the SIRP-alpha receptor on macrophages to signal that the cell shouldn’t be destroyed. Drugs that prevent CD47 from binding SIRP-alpha have been tested in clinical trials for the treatment of some cancers."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/discovery-identifies-don-t-eat-150100071.html