AUGUST 11, 2017

Single Strep Protein Sets Off White Blood Cell Early Warning System

By IDSE News Staff

Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, in Aurora, recently made a surprising discovery: The M protein in group A Streptococcus alone wipes out macrophages, but not other types of immune cells. The macrophages’ self-sacrifice serves as an early warning of infection to the rest of the immune system (Nat Microbiol [Epub Aug 7, 2017].