Host Protease Activity on Bacterial Pathogens Promotes Complement and Antibiotic-Directed Killing
Abstract
Our understanding of how the host immune system thwarts bacterial evasive mechanisms remains incomplete. Here, we show that host protease neutrophil elastase acts on Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to destroy factors that prevent serum-associated, complement-directed killing. The protease activity also enhances bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics in sera. These findings implicate a new paradigm where host protease activity on bacteria acts combinatorially with the host complement system and antibiotics to defeat bacterial pathogens.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 18, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.3390/pathogens10111506
Entities
People
- Alexandria-jade Roberts
- Carolyn L Cannon
- Dongmei Zhang
- Hsueh-chung Lu
- Paul de Figueiredo
- Qing-Ming Qin
- Shaorong Chen
Organizations
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation