A new experimental study has suggested the potential for new treatments to reduce reliance on antibiotics for intracellular infections like TB.
on 24 March, involved developing a human macrophage cell model by taking induced human pluripotent stem cells, which have the ability to become any cell type in the body, and using them to engineer macrophages, known to be the main host cell in humans for. However previously it remained "unresolved" quite how autophagy might function to control the infection within cells.So the team used CRISPR–Cas9 genome-editing tools to manipulate the macrophages’ ability to perform autophagy.
They added: "Understanding how autophagy acts to control the infection of intracellular pathogens in humans will enable the development of host-directed therapies."Corresponding author Maximiliano Gutierrez, head of the Host-Pathogen Interactions in Tuberculosis Laboratory at the Crick, said: "I first studied the role of autophagy in infection during my PhD, so it's incredible to see renewed interest in this field.
The team are now planning further experiments to screen for drug compounds that might be used to boost autophagy in a targeted way that affects only macrophages. Beren Aylan, a PhD student at the Crick and joint first author, said: "Antibiotic resistance is a huge threat to our health so it's incredibly important to understand how our bodies fight infection and where there might be room for improvement.
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