When thinking of the immune system, most people imagine white blood cells putting up a fight against invading germs in the bloodstream. But now, in research published in Molecular Cell, scientists detail a separate but equally important route by which our bodies fight infection—directly inside already infected cells.
In the report, the authors define a previously undescribed method of germ resistance they coin “antibody-directed xenophagy” (ADX), where cells can digest bacteria and viruses that cross the cell membrane, including Salmonella and adenoviruses.
“People have talked about viral xenophagy before as a sort of concept, but if you look in literature, there aren’t any good examples where people have shown this operating to potently block infection,” says Leo James of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
Fascinating research on the ADX pathway. Understanding how cells fight infection from within could revolutionize immunology. This kind of basic science discovery is what ultimately leads to breakthrough treatments. AI and computational biology are accelerating discoveries like these by helping researchers analyze complex cellular mechanisms at unprecedented speed. Excited to see where this research leads.