Host-pathogen interactions are the dynamic, reciprocal biological processes that occur between a host organism and an invading pathogen, encompassing molecular recognition, immune sensing, signaling, and effector responses, as well as pathogen strategies for attachment, invasion, replication, and immune evasion. These interactions involve pattern recognition receptors (e.g., Toll-like, NOD-like, and RIG-I-like receptors), pathogen-associated molecular patterns, and downstream signaling pathways that regulate inflammation, cell death, and antimicrobial defenses. Concurrently, pathogens deploy virulence factors, secretion systems, and immune-modulatory molecules to manipulate host cell pathways, subvert immunity, and optimize their survival, replication, and transmission, thereby determining infection outcomes and disease pathogenesis.
In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma that viruses lack protein ...
For anyone who relies on coffee to start their day, coffee wilt disease may be the most important disease you've never heard of. This fungal disease has repeatedly reshaped the global coffee supply over the past century, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 18, 2026
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A University of Alberta research team has identified a new drug target to treat harmful E. coli bacteria—which cause nearly 250,000 deaths a year from urinary tract infections (UTI) and are becoming increasingly resistant ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 18, 2026
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Survival of the fittest. Nature red in tooth and claw. The common view of natural selection is based solely on the individual: A trait allows an organism to out-compete its rivals and is thus passed down to its offspring. ...
Evolution
Feb 17, 2026
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Each year, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the reason that more than a million people die from infections that no longer respond to existing antibiotics, making AMR one of the greatest global health challenges of our time.
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 17, 2026
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Most bacteria, including many bacterial pathogens, are surrounded by an outer protective layer of sugar molecules, known as a capsule. This primarily protects the bacteria from environmental influences, but also serves as ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 16, 2026
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After nearly 40 years of research on how Listeria bacteria manipulate our cells and battle our immune system to cause listeriosis, Daniel Portnoy and his colleagues have discovered a way to turn the bacteria into a potent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 12, 2026
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Millions of bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, and a new study from the University of Waterloo explores why and how the fungal disease has devastated bat populations on this continent, while it has ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 12, 2026
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Research at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) reveals that autonomous parvoviruses, such as canine parvovirus, are highly capable of affecting the internal balance of the nucleolus. The results provide new basic information ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 11, 2026
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New research on avian malaria, which has decimated Hawaii's beloved birds, explains how non-native birds play a key role in transmission and contribute to the widespread distribution of the disease. This disease threatens ...
Ecology
Feb 10, 2026
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