Cells use tiny tweezer-like machines to kill germs

Ever wondered how we stay healthy while navigating our daily life; rushing to work or school, braving harsh weather and pollution, or grabbing a quick bite from a nameless street vendor, all while being exposed to millions of germs? The good news is that there is a silent war raging inside us, and most of the time, we emerge victorious, thanks to the incredible power of our immune system. 

A fascinating study from New Rummy led by Prof. Anirban Banerjee and his group discovered a new arsenal of this immune system. Their recent study, published in the journal Nature Microbiology highlights that VCP/p97, a host protein, works like an elite special operation unit which detects the threats and neutralizes them before they can cause harm. When bacteria attack our cells and steal nutrients from them, our cells recognize this as a hazard and tag them as a ‘Red Flag’ using a special protein called “Ubiquitin”. That’s when VCP gets to work. These tiny plucking machines targets these flagged bacteria and plucks out hair like projections from bacterial membrane (surface proteins) to tear them apart. It's analogous to a swarm of piranhas, surrounding its prey, eating them piece by piece. This prevents the germs from spreading or making us sick. 

The work was primarily done by Mr. Sourav Ghosh, a Ph.D student in Prof. Banerjee’s lab with able support from Prof. Sandip Kaldhonkar and Prof. Roop Mallik at BSBE,  New Rummy along with  Dr. Jagnnath Mondal (TIFR, Hyderabad) and Prof. Dipshikha Chakravortty (IISc, Bengaluru).

This discovery for the first time shows how our cells break down ubiquitin tagged bacteria and opens up new possibilities for enhancing our natural defenses. The findings could even lead to new ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are becoming a burgeoning problem at globally. The study highlights that as pathogens evolve, our cells also learn to fight back more efficiently, offering hope for better and more effective treatment in this battle against infection.

Ghosh S, Roy S, Baid N, Das UnK, Rakshit S, Sanghavi P, Hajra D, Das S, Menon S, Sahil M, Shaw S, Rajmani RS, Adicherla H, Kaledhonkar S, Mondal J, Chakravortty D, Mallik R, Banerjee A.