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One of a killer T cell’s most important weapons is perforin, a protein that punctures the outer membrane of the target cell.

Whether killer T cells just squirt out granzymes and perforin or rely on specialized structures to transport the lethal molecules to the target cell has not been clear.

Cells release some types of small particles that are swaddled in lipids, but SMAPs sport a protein coat and harbor granzyme and perforin in their core.

Instead of just leaking perforin and granzymes, killer T cells fashion a complex receptacle to deliver them, the researchers conclude.

Immunologist Christopher Mody of the University of Calgary says the paper deserves credit for “suggesting a new paradigm” for how perforin and granzymes converge at the target cell’s membrane.