A multidisciplinary team has uncovered a key mechanism that allows the human bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae—responsible for atypical pneumonia and other respiratory infections—to obtain cholesterol and other essential lipids directly from the human body.

The discovery, published in Nature Communications, was co-led by Dr. Noemí Rotllan, from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Center for Biomedical Research in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM); Dr. Marina Marcos, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB); and Dr. David Vizarraga, from the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona of the Spanish National Research Council (IBMB-CSIC) and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG).

Overall coordination was led by Dr. Joan Carles Escolà-Gil, from IR Sant Pau and CIBERDEM; Dr. Jaume Piñol, from UAB; and Dr. Ignacio Fita, from IBMB-CSIC. The study also involved collaboration from the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the UAB (IBB-UAB), the Center for Biomedical Research in Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), and other leading institutions.