Deadly bacteria stiff-arm the immune system
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 11:30
in Health & Medicine
The most severe Group A Streptococcus (strep) infections are often the work of one particularly nefarious strain known as M1T1, named in part for the type of tentacle-like M protein projecting from the bacterium's surface. While many previous studies proposed ways M1 might contribute to strep virulence, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have uncovered a new explanation that may trump all others: M1's ability to hold off antimicrobial peptides—natural antibiotics that comprise one of the immune system's front lines of defense.