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Bacterial pathogenesis

Touching a nerve during neuroinvasion

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 21, page 276 (2023)Cite this article

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Bacterial neuroinvasion can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, such as bacterial meningitis, where bacteria invade the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord known as meninges and cause inflammation. Although much is known about the pathophysiology of bacterial meningitis, we have a limited understanding of how bacteria invade the brain and the role of the host immune system in this process. In a recent study, Pinho-Ribeiro et al. uncovered a relationship between sensory neurons and immune cells in the meninges that facilitates brain invasion by two Streptococcus species (Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus agalactiae) and the development of meningitis in mice.

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  1. Nature Reviews Microbiology http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/

    Ashley York

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  1. Ashley York
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Correspondence to Ashley York.

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York, A. Touching a nerve during neuroinvasion. Nat Rev Microbiol 21, 276 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00884-4

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