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Mitochondrial missile defense

Nature Medicine volume 14, pages 910–912 (2008)Cite this article

A relatively obscure immune cell, the eosinophil, has a dramatic way of defending against pathogens. It rapidly ejects mitochondrial DNA, ensnaring bacteria and hastening their demise (pages 949–953).

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Figure 1: Eosinophils differentiate under the stimulation of IL-5.

Katie Vicari

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Author notes

  1. Marc E. Rothenberg is in the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue MLC7028, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229, USA. rothenberg@cchmc.org.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victor Nizet is in the Department of Pediatrics and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC 0687 La Jolla, California 92093 and at the Rady Children's Hospital 3020 Children's Way, San Diego, California 92123, USA. vnizet@ucsd.edu,

    Victor Nizet & Marc E Rothenberg

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  1. Victor Nizet
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  2. Marc E Rothenberg
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Competing interests

M.E.R. is associated with the following companies that are pursuing drugs that target gastrointestinal eosinophils: Ception Therapeutics (consultant and stock owner), Novartis (consultant) and Merck (consultant).

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Nizet, V., Rothenberg, M. Mitochondrial missile defense. Nat Med 14, 910–912 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0908-910

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