Antimicrobial responses

A new study shows that gut bacteria can enhance antiviral responses through the secretion of bacterial microvesicles.

Among the multi-organ complications of Long COVID, those associated with cardiometabolic syndrome were some of the most prevalent in recent studies of population-scale data. Given the potential health and economic burdens, there is an urgent need to better define the inflammatory processes involved.

Two papers in Science Immunology describe a role for tuft cells in the gallbladder and bile ducts in sensing bacteria and their products ascending from the small intestine to stimulate antibacterial immune responses.

Immunologic recognition of bacterial products during skin infection triggers a cytokine and chemokine response that facilitates neutrophil recruitment to the site of infection. Staphylococcus aureus phenol-soluble modulins can function as early chemoattractants to directly recruit neutrophils and alert the host to infection.