Salmonella and self-sacrifice
Our large intestines are heavily populated by bacteria and as such really do not have space for newcomers.
Despite this, Salmonella are able to multiply there. In a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, a group led by Wolf-Dietrich Hardt from ETH Zurich is uncovering the remarkable strategies used by the feared diarrhoea pathogens.
A small number of the Salmonella sacrifice themselves by attacking the intestinal cells. Although this kills them, they succeed in causing inflammation.
The inflamed intestine excretes mucus, which ultimately accelerates the growth of the remaining salmonella in the intestine. Thus the bacteria benefit from the death of their sister cells.
Prof. Wolf-Dietrich Hardt
Institute of Microbiology
Department of Biology, ETH Zurich
ETH Hönggerberg, HCI G 417
Wolfgang-Pauli Str. 10
CH-8093 Zurich
E-mail: hardt@micro.biol.ethz.ch
Tel.: +41 44 632 51 43
Fax: +41 44 632 11 29
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
High-energy-density aqueous battery based on halogen multi-electron transfer
Traditional non-aqueous lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density, but their safety is compromised due to the flammable organic electrolytes they utilize. Aqueous batteries use water as the solvent for…
First-ever combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant
…gives new hope to patient with terminal illness. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health performed the first-ever combined mechanical heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgery in a 54-year-old woman…
Biophysics: Testing how well biomarkers work
LMU researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings…
