How Tuberculosis Bacteria Use a 'Stealth' Mechanism to Evade the Immune System

How tuberculosis bacteria use a 'stealth' mechanism to evade the immune system

Scientists have uncovered an elegant biophysical trick that tuberculosis-causing bacteria use to survive inside human cells, a discovery that could lead to new strategies for fighting one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases.

Tuberculosis Bacteria Use Lipids to Remotely Rewire Immune Cells

Researchers in India have discovered a strategy that some pathogenic bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use to attack immune cells before they even come into contact. Their findings show that these bacteria send out extracellular vesicles containing specialized lipids that stiffen the membranes of phagocytic cells, blocking key immune functions and allowing the invaders to evade immunity.  This research will be presented this weeken…

Researchers Discover How Tuberculosis Bacteria Use a “Stealth” Mechanism to Evade the Immune System

BETHESDA, MD – Scientists have uncovered an elegant biophysical trick that tuberculosis-causing bacteria use to survive inside human cells, a discovery that could lead to new strategies for fighting one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases.Tuberculosis kills more than a million people each year and remains a major public health crisis, particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America.