Tuberculosis bacteria strangle host cells
Published: Monday, Nov 27th 2023, 12:20
Back to Live Feed
Tuberculosis bacteria strangle the host cells. This has been shown by an international research team led by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in a new study.
The results significantly improved the understanding of tuberculosis pathology and could contribute to the development of new treatment strategies, the EPFL announced on Monday.
It has been known since the 1940s that tuberculosis bacteria form long chains in their cells. However, how these strands contribute to the pathogenic properties of the tuberculosis bacteria was largely unknown until now, according to EPFL.
The researchers have now been able to show that the tuberculosis strands constrict and strangulate the nucleus of the host cell. As a result, the cell can produce fewer antibodies and messenger substances and therefore cannot contain the pathogen, as the study published in the journal "Cell" shows.
Insensitive to antibiotics
According to EPFL, this finding is crucial because it explains how tuberculosis suppresses the host's defenses and why the infection is so difficult to fight.
The researchers were also able to show that the bacteria in such strands become insensitive to the effects of antibiotics and can grow again even after antibiotic therapy has ended.
In addition, according to the study, the strands penetrate through cells and between cells, which facilitates the spread of the tuberculosis bacteria into new tissue.
The tuberculosis bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes an estimated 1.6 million deaths per year worldwide.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic