Indian-American unravels how TB bugs incite immune cells

LONDON - An Indian-American immunologist has unravelled how a signalling pathway helps TB bugs incite immune cells into working for them.

“If we could keep this pathway from inciting the host immune system, we may be well on the way to finding innovative new therapies against TB, as well as other serious disorders,” said senior study author Lalita Ramakrishnan.

Ramakrishnan, a University of Washington associate professor of microbiology, medicine and immunology, did her MBBS in Vadodara, Gujarat, and her Ph.D. in immunology from Tufts University, Boston.

Epithelial cells line the airways and other glands to protect and defend the body. They also make up the outer surface of the body.

TB bacteria co-opt these epithelial cells into helping create tubercles: the small, rounded masses characteristic of TB. They enable the bacteria to expand their numbers and spread to other locations, said a university release.

By inciting parts of the immune system to go into overdrive, this same molecular signaling pathway may play other roles in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and some forms of heart disease and cancer.

The results appeared in the December edition of Science.