Salmonella could be fought by improving the body's natural process – ScienceDaily

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Dr. Ioannis Nezis of the School of Life Sciences of the University of Warwick and Dr. Tamas Korscmaros of Earlham Institute and Quadram Institute of Norwich, UK, examined the proteome of 56 pathogenic bacterial species – to see how autophagy reacts with them.

Among the 56 species examined were Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus. They have identified how host cells use autophagy to eliminate invading bacteria, but also how bacteria use their proteins to escape this clearance.

They discovered that host cells use autophagy to target specific bacterial proteins for their recycling. These proteins could be used by bacteria to help them escape their clearance.

Salmonella is a foodborne bacterium and is the second leading cause of infant mortality in developing countries. Understanding how host cells perceive and fight Salmonella infection would lead to new therapies. They identified Salmonella YhjJ protein, which interacts with the LC3 protein of autophagy and can cleave other autophagy proteins to inhibit their function.

Dr. Ioannis Nezis commented, "Our systems-level badysis has highlighted the complex interplay between host autophagy and bacteria to inspire future experimental studies to elucidate the mechanisms Molecular detailed autophagy in the pathogenesis of bacterial infections.

"As drug resistance is increasing worldwide, bacterial infections are one of the biggest global threats to human health." The use of autophagy activators with antibiotics, as antibiotics, would be a very promising way to fight against bacterial infections "

Research can now seek to identify natural products that can stimulate autophagy and reduce the risk of acquiring infections as well as treating them.

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