Microbiology, Virology & Host Pathogen Interaction
Functional inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase disrupts infection by intracellular bacterial pathogensMany intracellular pathogens hijack cholesterol. Inhibiting acid sphingomyelinase alters cholesterol traffic to target different intracellular bacteria, signifying a host-directed approach for treating infectious disease.
Viperin controls chikungunya virus–specific pathogenic T cell IFNγ Th1 stimulation in miceThis study shows that Viperin controls the microenvironment pro-inflammatory response and CD4 T cell–mediated pathogenesis during anti-chikungunya virus immune response in mice.
Rab1b and ARF5 are novel RNA-binding proteins involved in FMDV IRES–driven RNA localizationIntegration of proteomic data with functional and imaging analysis revealed that Rab1b and ARF5, two ER-Golgi members, are RNA-binding proteins that colocalize with picornavirus IRES-RNA reporters in human cells.
Mechanistic aspects of maltotriose-conjugate translocation to the Gram-negative bacteria cytoplasmA maltotriose-conjugate can deliver molecules into the cytoplasmic space of Gram-negative bacteria by parasitizing the maltose uptake pathway.
Dimerization and auto-processing induce caspase-11 protease activation within the non-canonical inflammasomeThis study provides a detailed molecular mechanism for caspase-11 activation within the non-canonical inflammasome, giving new insight into host defence against cytosolic bacterial infection.
Identification of Plasmodium GAPDH epitopes for generation of antibodies that inhibit malaria infectionThis study reports on the identification of two Plasmodium GAPDH epitope peptides that are responsible for sporozoite–Kupffer cell interaction and act as antigens against malaria infection.
RNase E cleavage shapes the transcriptome of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and strongly impacts phototrophic growthThis study identifies the cleavage sites of the endoribonuclease RNase E in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides transcriptome and demonstrates its effect on oxidative stress resistance and phototrophic growth.
Proteins of generalist and specialist pathogens differ in their amino acid compositionPrimitive amino acids and disorder content in secreted proteins are distinctively enriched in generalist compared with host-specific pathogens.
Discovery of a cofactor-independent inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhAAN12855 is a novel cofactor-independent inhibitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis InhA. AN12855 has potent activity against M. tuberculosis, good oral bioavailability, and comparable efficacy to isoniazid in infection models.
The Arabidopsis homolog of human G3BP1 is a key regulator of stomatal and apoplastic immunityArabidopsis homolog of human G3BP1 negatively regulates plant immunity and defense responses. Atg3bp1 mutant lines show constitutive stomata closure, expression of a number of key defense marker genes, and accumulate salicylic acid.