Research Articles

  Food Fight: Role of Itaconate and Other Metabolites in Anti-Microbial Defense - PMC (nih.gov) Itaconate is an important metabolite that is involved in immune response as well as controlling inflammation. Krebs cycle. Implications and Conclusions Recent findings regarding the role of itaconate in the immune response ( Figure 1 ) not only advance our understanding of cellular immunometabolism, but also represent yet another evolution of its very definition. A precedent has been set for metabolites generated by the host cells to have direct anti-microbial effects. Interestingly, these effects also appear to be coupled with immunoregulatory mechanisms. As we redefine our understanding of the integration of the immune system with cellular metabolism, we will need to consider metabolites in a new light – as molecules with distinct functions as regulators and effectors of immunity. Itaconate may indeed be one of many metabolites with anti-microbial and immunoregulatory functions to be d...

  New paradigm of host defense against intracellular pathogens by nitric oxide] Takaaki Akaike   1 ,  Tatsuya Okamoto ,  Md Hasan Zaki ,  Shigemoto Fujii ,  Tomohiro Sawa PMID:  19227148   DOI:  10.5025/hansen.78.41 Free article Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) during infection plays a crucial role in host defense mechanisms, via its antimicrobial and cytoprotective activities. Infection of Salmonella typhimurium in mice induces excessive production of NO, as a host defense response. We found much greater bacterial growth and apoptotic changes in iNOS-deficient (iNOS-/-) mice than in wild-type mice. However, the mechanism of NO-mediated cytoprotection during Salmonella infection remained unclear. An important signaling mechanism induced by NO is heme oxygenase (HO)-1, a significant cytoprotective molecule produced by oxidative stress. Thus, we sought to clarify NO-dependent cytoprotective and antimicrobial h...