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.
According to estimates, about a third of the world's population is infected with the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the pathogen of toxoplasmosis. Although harmless for most people, the infection can be dangerous ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 9, 2025
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Researchers at Umeå University have identified a key molecular player that helps bacteria survive the hostile environment inside the body. Their study, published in the journal mBio, reveals how the protein RfaH acts as a ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 9, 2025
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35
Many medications and other therapeutic agents, including antibiotics and cancer therapies, must enter cells to reach their targets to have their effect. But that can pose a challenge, as drugs often have difficulty crossing ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 7, 2025
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Human noroviruses, GII.4 strains in particular, are the chief drivers of acute viral gastroenteritis around the world, a condition for which there are no vaccines or antivirals. Understanding how these viruses enter cells ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 3, 2025
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55
A new study in fruit flies describes how an animal's gut reacts differently to beneficial microbes versus harmful pathogens.
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 29, 2025
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Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from the Pasteur Institute and the University of Lorraine, France, have uncovered some of the inner workings of a recently discovered bacterial immune system called PARIS, which can ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 25, 2025
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Zinc sits at the heart of many bacterial enzymes, so one of our immune system's simplest defenses is to keep zinc out of reach. Calprotectin, a neutrophil protein abundant at infection sites, is central to this strategy. ...
Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that infect bacteria. Using phages therapeutically could be very useful in fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens, but the molecular interactions between phages and host bacteria ...
Biotechnology
Sep 10, 2025
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Meerkats genetically adapt to a species-specific form of tuberculosis according to a long-term study by an international research team led by Ulm University. The scientists also found that climate change in the Kalahari Desert ...
Evolution
Sep 10, 2025
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55
The notorious pathogen that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s is still a major threat to potato and tomato crops worldwide. This oomycete water mold, Phytophthora infestans, can devastate entire fields, posing a ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 10, 2025
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