title: Parasites paralyze cellular host defense system to promote virulence.
abstract: To promote their survival, intracellular pathogens must confront microbicidal activities induced by interferons. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Fentress et al. show that Toxoplasma gondii evades intracellular killing by deploying a virulence determinant, ROP18, which acts by directly phosphorylating and disabling an IFN-γ-inducible immunity-related GTPase involved in pathogen clearance.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. cfeng@niaid.nih.gov
authors.forename: Carl G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sher