Melanin as a potential cryptococcal defence against microbicidal proteins

Autophagy as a defence against intracellular pathogens.

Autophagy is a membrane trafficking pathway that results in the formation of autophagosomes which deliver portions of the cytosol to lysosomes for degradation. When autophagosomes engulf intracellular pathogens, the pathway is called 'xenophagy' because it leads to the removal of foreign material. Autophagy is activated during infection by Toll-like receptors that recognize pathogen-associated ...

A Microbicidal Weapon against Brucella suis

Role of natural killer T cells in host defence against cryptococcal infection.

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic fungal infectious disease that often occurs in severely immunocompromised patients. Host defence against the causative microorganism is largely mediated by cellular immunity, and Th1 cytokines, such as IFN-gamma, play central roles in the host protective responses. IL-12 and IL-18 activate the synthesis of IFN-gamma by innate immune cells, including NK, NKT an...

Insects had it first: surfactants as a defence against predators.

Insects have evolved an astonishing array of defences to ward off enemies. Well known and widespread is the regurgitation of oral secretion (OS), fluid that repels attacking predators. In herbivores, the effectiveness of OS has been ascribed so far to the presence of deterrent secondary metabolites sequestered from the host plant. This notion implies, however, that generalists experience less p...

Myeloperoxidase exerts microbicidal activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

We investigated the antimycobacterial role of myeloperoxidase (MPO), one of the most abundant granule proteins in human neutrophils. Our data indicate that purified MPO, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, exerts a consistent killing activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and against a clinical isolate. The activity is time and dose dependent and requires the presence of chloride i...