Immune-adaptive pathogen variation reveals targetable mediators of gram-positive bacterial killing in macrophages - PubMed
6 hours ago
- #macrophage killing
- #host-directed therapy
- #gram-positive bacteria
- Host-directed therapies can provide an alternative to conventional antimicrobials, helping to combat antimicrobial resistance.
- Immune-adaptive pathogen evolution was used to identify targetable mediators of bacterial killing in macrophages.
- Key host defense factors identified include ACOD1, itaconate, NAMPT, and P2RX7, effective against gram-positive pathogens like Streptococcus pneumoniae.
- The antihistamine clemastine was repurposed to enhance phagolysosomal bacterial killing via P2RX7, showing potential as a host-directed therapy.
- Pathogen-centric host screening is a valuable approach to identify microbicidal responses for host-directed therapies.