Featured
-
-
Article
| Open AccessRedefining the treponemal history through pre-Columbian genomes from Brazil
Reconstruction of four Treponema pallidum genomes associated with human remains from around 2,000 years ago suggests that T. pallidum existed in the Americas and diverged to its modern subspecies before the fifteenth century European contact with the Americas.
- Kerttu Majander
- , Marta Pla-Díaz
- & Verena J. Schuenemann
-
Article |
Clostridioides difficile ferrosome organelles combat nutritional immunity
Ferrosome organelles produced by Clostridioides difficile are required to support colonization of the inflamed gut, highlighting the potential of targeting ferrosome formation as an antimicrobial strategy against this important pathogen.
- Hualiang Pi
- , Rong Sun
- & Eric P. Skaar
-
Article |
Evolution of immune genes is associated with the Black Death
Klunk and colleagues identify signatures of natural selection imposed by Yersinia pestis and demonstrate their effect on genetic diversity and susceptibility to certain diseases in the present day.
- Jennifer Klunk
- , Tauras P. Vilgalys
- & Luis B. Barreiro
-
Article |
Caspase-7 activates ASM to repair gasdermin and perforin pores
Caspase-7 cleaves and activates acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), which promotes the repair of gasdermin pores and thereby delays pore-driven lysis to allow other processes such as extrusion or apoptosis to occur before cell death.
- Kengo Nozaki
- , Vivien I. Maltez
- & Edward A. Miao
-
Article
| Open AccessLeprosy in wild chimpanzees
Monitoring of western chimpanzee populations in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire reveals the presence of rare and different genotypes of Mycobacterium leprae, suggesting greater circulation in wild animals than previously thought.
- Kimberley J. Hockings
- , Benjamin Mubemba
- & Fabian H. Leendertz
-
Article |
Rational design of a new antibiotic class for drug-resistant infections
A lead-optimization strategy combining porin permeation properties and biochemical potency leads to development of a new class of antibiotic based on broad inhibition of penicillin-binding proteins from Gram-negative bacteria.
- Thomas F. Durand-Reville
- , Alita A. Miller
- & Ruben A. Tommasi
-
Article |
RETRACTED ARTICLE: IspH inhibitors kill Gram-negative bacteria and mobilize immune clearance
A class of compounds with a dual mechanism of action—direct targeting of IspH and stimulation of cytotoxic γδ T cells to enhance pathogen clearance—are active against multidrug-resistant bacteria.
- Kumar Sachin Singh
- , Rishabh Sharma
- & Farokh Dotiwala
-
Article
| Open AccessChildhood vaccines and antibiotic use in low- and middle-income countries
Pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines have reduced antibiotic consumption substantially among children under five years old in low- and middle-income countries; however, this effect could be doubled if all countries were to implement vaccination programmes and meet universal vaccine coverage targets.
- Joseph A. Lewnard
- , Nathan C. Lo
- & Ramanan Laxminarayan
-
Article |
Evolution-guided discovery of antibiotics that inhibit peptidoglycan remodelling
The glycopeptide antibiotic-related compounds complestatin and corbomycin function by binding to peptidoglycan and blocking the action of autolysins—peptidoglycan hydrolase enzymes that remodel the cell wall during growth.
- Elizabeth J. Culp
- , Nicholas Waglechner
- & Gerard D. Wright
-
Article |
Microbiota-targeted maternal antibodies protect neonates from enteric infection
Neonatal mice are protected against infection with the enteric pathogen enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by maternally derived natural antibodies as well as by maternal commensal microbiota that induce antibodies that recognize antigens expressed by Enterobacteriaceae.
- Wen Zheng
- , Wenjing Zhao
- & Dennis L. Kasper
-
Article |
FPR1 is the plague receptor on host immune cells
The receptor FPR1 on human immune cells interacts with Yersinia pestis, mutations in this receptor provide resistance against plague in humans and Fpr1 deficiency enhances survival in mice.
- Patrick Osei-Owusu
- , Thomas M. Charlton
- & Olaf Schneewind
-
Article |
Optimized arylomycins are a new class of Gram-negative antibiotics
Chemical optimization of arylomycins results in an inhibitor of bacterial type I signal peptidase that shows activity both against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria in vitro and in several in vivo infection models.
- Peter A. Smith
- , Michael F. T. Koehler
- & Christopher E. Heise
-
Letter |
Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest
An anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts in a tropical rainforest, with important implications for the conservation of mammals such as chimpanzees.
- Constanze Hoffmann
- , Fee Zimmermann
- & Fabian H. Leendertz
-
Article |
Inflammatory caspases are innate immune receptors for intracellular LPS
Caspase-4 and caspase-11 are shown to be the direct sensors for cytoplasmic lipopolysaccharide in humans and mice, respectively, mediating inflammatory cell death in intracellular bacterial infection.
- Jianjin Shi
- , Yue Zhao
- & Feng Shao
-
Letter |
A dynamic model of bovine tuberculosis spread and control in Great Britain
Bovine tuberculosis is a major economic burden on the cattle industry, and attempts to control it have been politically controversial; here farm movement and bovine tuberculosis incidence data are used to construct a mechanistic model and tease apart the factors contributing to epidemic bovine tuberculosis spread.
- Ellen Brooks-Pollock
- , Gareth O. Roberts
- & Matt J. Keeling
-
Outlook |
Antibiotic resistance: An infectious arms race
Winning the fight against infectious bacteria requires staying ahead of the organisms' uncanny ability to flank our frontal assaults. By Karyn Hede.
- Karyn Hede
-
-
Outlook |
Perspective: The age of the phage
It's time to use viruses that kill bacteria again, say Shigenobu Matsuzaki, Jumpei Uchiyama, Iyo Takemura-Uchiyama and Masanori Daibata.
- Shigenobu Matsuzaki
- , Jumpei Uchiyama
- & Masanori Daibata
-
Outlook |
Perspective: Synthetic biology revives antibiotics
Re-engineering natural products provides a new route to drug discovery, says Gerard Wright.
- Gerard Wright
-
Outlook |
Diagnostics: Detection drives defence
Devices that quickly identify bacterial infections would benefit health and slow the spread of resistance.
- Rebecca Kanthor
-
Outlook |
Drug development: Time for teamwork
In the face of more drug-resistant bugs and fewer new drugs, partnerships promise a resurgence of antibiotics.
- Mike May
-
Outlook |
Public health: The politics of antibiotics
Policy-makers and medical experts need to think globally if we are to prevent an antibiotic 'tragedy of the commons'.
- Megan Cully
-
Outlook |
Microbiology: Resistance fighters
Science goes back to nature to decipher and disrupt the mechanisms by which germs evade antibiotics.
- Bill Cannon
-
Outlook |
Drug discovery: Leaving no stone unturned
New antibiotic treatments could be found by combining novel and existing drugs, in drug-free nanoparticles, or at the bottom of the sea.
- Katharine Gammon
-
Outlook |
Epidemiology: A mortal foe
Tuberculosis is one of the world's most lethal infectious diseases. Further progress in consigning it to the past is a massive challenge. By Tom Paulson.
- Tom Paulson
-
Outlook |
Latency: A sleeping giant
Most people infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis never get the disease, but predicting who will is turning out to be a complex problem.
- Courtney Humphries
-
Outlook |
Transmission: Control issues
Once tuberculosis takes hold in a population it can be hard to control, but scientists are finding new ways to understand and stop its spread.
- Ewen Callaway
-
Article |
The ubiquitin ligase parkin mediates resistance to intracellular pathogens
Mutations in the ubiquitin ligase parkin are associated with increased susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease; parkin is already known to have a role in mitophagy and this work identifies a new innate immunity role for parkin in ubiquitin-mediated autophagy of intracellular bacterial pathogens.
- Paolo S. Manzanillo
- , Janelle S. Ayres
- & Jeffery S. Cox
-
Article |
Bacteria activate sensory neurons that modulate pain and inflammation
This study shows that most known mediators of immunity, such as TLR2, MyD88, T cells or B cells, and neutrophils and monocytes, are dispensable for pain produced by Staphylococcus aureus infection; instead, bacterial products, such as N-formylated peptides and α-haemolysin, induce pain by directly activating nociceptor neurons, which in turn modulate inflammation.
- Isaac M. Chiu
- , Balthasar A. Heesters
- & Clifford J. Woolf
-
Article |
CCR5 is a receptor for Staphylococcus aureus leukotoxin ED
A Staphylococcus aureus leukotoxin targets cells expressing the chemokine receptor CCR5, a mechanism for the specificity of leukotoxins towards different immune cells.
- Francis Alonzo III
- , Lina Kozhaya
- & Victor J. Torres
-
Letter |
Structure of the proton-gated urea channel from the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori
The crystal structure of the inner-membrane urea channel HpUreI from Helicobacter pylori, the causative organism of peptic ulcers, reveals how the channel selectively transports urea across the membrane and buffers the pathogen’s periplasmic pH against the acidic gastric environment.
- David Strugatsky
- , Reginald McNulty
- & Hartmut Luecke
-
News & Views |
Vitamins prime immunity
The finding that derivatives of vitamin B can bind to an antigen-presenting protein that stimulates specialized immune cells suggests a novel mechanism by which the immune system detects microbial infections. See Article p.717
- Wei-Jen Chua
- & Ted H. Hansen
-
News |
South Pacific coconut gene bank under threat
Bacterial disease outbreak threatens collection of 3,200 coconut palms.
- Anne Moorhead
-
Research Highlights |
Typhoid fever in a mouse
-
Letter |
Host–microbe interactions have shaped the genetic architecture of inflammatory bowel disease
A meta-analysis of previous genome-wide association studies of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease, with a combined total of more than 75,000 cases and controls, finds that most loci contribute to both phenotypes and other immune-mediated disorders.
- Luke Jostins
- , Stephan Ripke
- & Judy H Cho
-
Letter |
Reduced airway surface pH impairs bacterial killing in the porcine cystic fibrosis lung
In a porcine cystic fibrosis model, lack of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is shown to result in acidification of airway surface liquid (ASL), and this decrease in pH reduces the ability of ASL to kill bacteria; the findings directly link loss of the CFTR anion channel to impaired defence against bacterial infection.
- Alejandro A. Pezzulo
- , Xiao Xiao Tang
- & Joseph Zabner
-
Letter |
NLRP6 negatively regulates innate immunity and host defence against bacterial pathogens
The Nod-like receptor family member NLRP6 is characterized and shown to be a negative regulator of inflammatory signalling, dampening host responses against bacterial infections and impeding bacterial clearance.
- Paras K. Anand
- , R. K. Subbarao Malireddi
- & Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti
-
Research Highlights |
Sequencing tracks outbreak
-
News |
Cholera vaccine deployed to control African outbreak
Patients in Guinea are first in Africa to be given oral vaccination during an epidemic.
- Gozde Zorlu
-
News |
US beef tests cook up a storm
Critics question benefits of broader E. coli screening.
- Helen Shen
-
News |
Reform falters after Europe’s E. coli scare
Political debate leaves German surveillance law in limbo.
- Marian Turner
-
Research Highlights |
Gene behind MRSA's menace
-
Letter |
Infection regulates pro-resolving mediators that lower antibiotic requirements
Resolvins and protectins are anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediators that are shown to resolve infections, and their administration lowers required doses of antibiotics and shortens infections.
- Nan Chiang
- , Gabrielle Fredman
- & Charles N. Serhan
-
Research Highlights |
Unintended antimicrobial effects
-
News & Views |
A sweet way of sensing danger
Cells can destroy invading bacteria through a digestive process called autophagy. A study finds that sugar molecules, exposed by bacterial damage to the cell's membrane, can trigger this process. See Letter p.414
- Ju Huang
- & John H. Brumell
-
News Feature |
Vaccine development: Man vs MRSA
For decades, Robert Daum has studied the havoc wreaked by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Now he thinks he can stop it for good.
- Maryn McKenna
-
Letter |
Galectin 8 targets damaged vesicles for autophagy to defend cells against bacterial invasion
Galectin 8, a cytosolic lectin, is shown to function as a danger receptor that detects damaged vesicles and protects cells from bacterial infection by inducing autophagy.
- Teresa L. M. Thurston
- , Michal P. Wandel
- & Felix Randow
-
News |
Septin proteins take bacterial prisoners
A cellular defence against microbial pathogens holds therapeutic potential.
- Amanda Mascarelli
-
News & Views |
Plague's progress
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. The first complete genome sequence of the causative Yersinia pestis bacterium provides a fresh perspective on plague evolution. See Letter p.506
- Edward C. Holmes