Published in Cell host & microbe
Commensal intestinal microbes are collectively beneficial in preventing local tissue injury and augmenting systemic antimicrobial immunity. However, given the near-exclusive focus on bacterial species in establishing these protective benefits, the contributions of other types of commensal microbes remain poorly defined. Here, we show that commensal...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Staphylococcus aureus are part of the natural flora of humans and other mammals. We found that spent media from the CoNS species Staphylococcus caprae can inhibit agr-mediated quorum sensing by all classes of S. aureus. A biochemical assessment of the inhibitory activity suggested that the S. caprae autoi...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Our understanding of the spatial variation in the chemical and microbial makeup of an entire human organ remains limited, in part due to the size and heterogeneity of human organs and the complexity of the associated metabolome and microbiome. To address this challenge, we developed a workflow to enable the cartography of metabolomic and microbiome...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Low pathogenic H7N9 influenza viruses have recently evolved to become highly pathogenic, raising concerns of a pandemic, particularly if these viruses acquire efficient human-to-human transmissibility. We compared a low pathogenic H7N9 virus with a highly pathogenic isolate, and two of its variants that represent neuraminidase inhibitor-sensitive a...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Skin colonization by Staphylococcus aureus is associated with severity of atopic dermatitis (AD). Two papers in this issue of Cell Host & Microbe by Nakagawa et al. (2017) and Liu et al. (2017) define a pathway by which epicutaneous Staphylococcus aureus promotes skin inflammation and may contribute to AD.
Published in Cell host & microbe
The virulence factors of pathogenic microbes often have single functions that permit immune suppression. However, a proportion possess multiple activities and are considered moonlighting proteins. By examining secreted virulence factors of Staphylococcus aureus, we determine that the bacterial lipoic acid synthetase LipA suppresses macrophage activ...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) confer protection against intracellular pathogens. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Wandel et al. (2017) report that cytosolic Shigella becomes trapped within a GBP coat that prevents bacterial cell-to-cell spread. However, this defense mechanism is counteracted by the bacterial E3 ubiquitin ligase IpaH9.8.
Published in Cell host & microbe
Immunity to intestinal helminth infections has been well studied, but the mechanism of helminth killing prior to expulsion remains unclear. Here we identify epithelial-cell-derived phospholipase A2 group 1B (PLA2g1B) as a host-derived endogenous anthelmintic. PLA2g1B is elevated in resistant mice and is responsible for killing tissue-embedded larva...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Neutrophils represent the main infected cell population in the lungs of active tuberculosis patients. Efficient removal of infected and dying neutrophils is required to protect the surrounding tissue from bioactive neutrophil molecules and subsequent pathological sequelae. While the removal of apoptotic M. tuberculosis (Mtb)-infected cells, or effe...
Published in Cell host & microbe
Cellular tropism during persistent viral infection is commonly conferred by the interaction of a viral surface protein with a host receptor complex. Norovirus, the leading global cause of gastroenteritis, can be persistently shed during infection, but its in vivo cellular tropism and tropism determinants remain unidentified. Using murine norovirus ...
