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How disease-causing microbes load their tiny syringes to prep an attack

Many bacteria that make us sick inject our cells with havoc-wreaking proteins

A microscope image of two cells side-by-side with a mutant cell on the left and a normal, secreting cell on the right. The cells appear purple in the image and the zigzag paths of proteins that shuttle cargo to the syringe-like secretion systems bacteria use to inject things into their hosts light up. White blobs at the edges of the cells mark the drop-off spots.

The zigzag paths of proteins that shuttle cargo to the syringe-like secretion systems bacteria use to inject things into their hosts light up in these microscope images (lighter-colored paths correspond to faster movements). In a mutant cell (left) with no cargo to shuttle, the proteins move more quickly than in a normal, secreting cell (right). White blobs mark the drop-off spots.

S. Wimmi et al/Nat. Microbiology 2024

By Elise Cutts

- More than 2 years ago

Swallow the wrong microbe, and you might end up in the hospital with a needle or two in your arm — and plenty of itty-bitty bacterial needles poking at you from the inside.