Found a molecule that paralyzes the cells of the immune system

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria are antibiotic-resistant hospital germs that invade

into the blood, lungs and other tissues through woundsand cause life-threatening infections. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg in France have discovered a mechanism that likely makes P. aeruginosa infections so dangerous. Scientists propose using this data for future treatments. The results of the study were published in the journal EMBO Reports.

Many types of bacteria use lectins.sugar-binding molecules - to attach to and penetrate host cells. But their other functions have been practically unstudied. Now biologists have investigated the effects of the LecB lectin from P. aeruginosa on the immune system.

It turned out that isolated LecB can doimmune cells are ineffective. For example, they can no longer migrate throughout the body and trigger an immune response. Administration of a compound directed against LecB prevented this effect and resulted in the immune cells being able to move freely again.

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On the cover:Human endothelial cells use the molecules cadherin (green) and actin (purple) to form a flexible barrier around blood vessels. After the addition of isolated LecB, their localization in the cell changes significantly: in the right half of the image, cadherin is no longer outside the cell, but near the nucleus (blue). Credit: Yubin Guo/Universities of Freiburg and Strasbourg