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Listeria is a type of bacteria that is commonly found in soil and water. Eating food that has been contaminated with Listeria can cause a rare but serious illness, known as listeriosis. Listeriosis primarily affects individuals with a weakened immune system, such as pregnant women and patients with chronic infections.
Type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1) play a pivotal role in the cross-presentation of antigens, enabling efficient CD8 + T cell response. Here authors show that the transcription factor Zeb1 essentially regulates this process via facilitating the reactive-oxygen-species-dependent rupture of phagosomal membrane to allow antigen export to the cytoplasm.
Currently, no approved vaccines for Listeria monocytogenes are available. Here, the authors use immunopeptidomics to map bacterial peptides presented on infected cells and identify antigens that, as mRNA vaccine, provide protection in mice.
Studies in a mouse model of neurolisteriosis show that the effector protein InlB produced by Listeria monocytogenes protects infected monocytes in the host from T cell-mediated cell death, and thereby increases bacterial neuroinvasion, persistence and transmission.
During microbial infection, proteins are modified by the ubiquitin-like protein ISG15. Here, the authors uncover RNF213 as a sensor for ISGylated proteins on the surface of lipid droplets, showing that RNF213 has antiviral properties but also directly targets intracellular bacteria in infected cells.
To protect from infection and preserve maternal–fetal tolerance, decidual natural killer cells deliver cytotoxic effectors through nanotubes to selectively kill intracellular bacteria and not the host cell.
