TB: screening for responses to a vile visitor.
Mycobacteria, the pathogens that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, establish long-term infections in host macrophages. Recent studies, including two genetic screens reported in this issue of Cell (Kumar et al., 2010; Tobin et al., 2010), reveal that virulent mycobacteria evade the host immune system by stimulating production of anti-inflammatory molecules and inhibiting autophagy.
Behr
Marcel
M
Research Institute, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec H3G 0B1, Canada.
Schurr
Erwin
E
Gros
Philippe
P
D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology