Chopping up a microbial tail

From Washington, D.C., at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology

Many disease-causing bacteria sport whiplike flagella that propel their movement. Scientists have now found that an enzyme produced by immune cells called neutrophils can chop up flagellin, the main protein in these tails.

Neutrophils are usually among the first immune cells to encounter bacteria. These cells use the enzyme neutrophil elastase to tear up the microbes’ membranes.