title: The noodle defense.
abstract: Macrophages ingest and kill microbes by phagocytosis and delivery to lysosomes. In this issue, Prashar et al. (2013, J. Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201304095) demonstrate that the elongated morphology of filamentous bacteria does not prevent ingestion by macrophages or the fusion of lysosomes, but creates a chimeric, unclosed phagolysosomal compartment whose leakiness blunts the toxicity of lysosomal enzymes, thereby increasing bacterial survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
authors.forename: Joel A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Swanson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000502:physiology*; D010587:Phagocytosis