A cytotoxic-lymphocyte pore-forming protein supporting delivery of granzymes during target-cell killing.
Pore formation helps granzymes reach the target-cell interior after cytotoxic-cell contact. This makes membrane permeabilization and the subsequent death programme distinguishable stages; detection of one effector alone does not establish that target killing was completed. [ref]
Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition by Bruce Alberts and others. Chapters 3, 6 and 15, protein function, translation and cell signalling
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