Salmonella can "hijack" immune cells

salmonella can hijack immune cells and use them to spread through the body. Experiments on mouse cells have shown that the bacteria do this by disrupting electrical signals in the intestines. The results were published in the U.S. Public Library of Science Biology.
human gut has a small electric field. This is caused by potassium and chlorine plasma in and out of the intestinal cells. Salmonella infections, such as food poisoning, disrupt the electric field because they destroy cells that warn the body's immune cells to clean up the "dirty things."
, the immune system is good at limiting infections to the gut. But sometimes salmonella escapes through macrophages, an immune cell that usually does not leave the intestines, and enters other organs such as the liver and spleen.
to study the process, Yaohui Sun of the University of California, Davis, and colleagues placed the mice's intestinal membrane cells in an electric field to simulate the infected intestine.
team found that in the absence of salmonella, almost all macrophages move toward positively charged areas corresponding to the gut.
, however, after devouring salmonella, the most common intestinal salmonella associated with food poisoning, about 41 percent of macrophages reverse course and move toward the negatively charged end, which is equivalent to leaving the intestines.
study found that salmonella has proteins that help it survive macrophages, but it's not clear how it alters the charge that attracts macrophages, Sun said. He believes it is possible that enzymes released by bacteria destroy the electrically induced sugar structure on the surface of macrophages.
, of Emory University in Georgia, said the latest findings could help develop treatments for the disease. This mechanism is not limited to salmonella. For example, TB-causing bacteria can also spread through macrophages, possibly using similar strategies. (Source: Zong Hua, China Science Journal)
related paper information: