The microbe responsible for the Group A Streptococcus infections can dodge the immune system and spread easily within infected cells, researchers have found.
After studying the M1T1 strain of the disease, scientists discovered that the microbe can hide and grow in cells, eventually producing an enzyme to damage immune proteins that normally defend against the infections.
The finding contradicts previous understandings that the autophagy immune response protected cells’ interiors against the bacterial infections.
Group A Streptococcus is one of the most lethal infectious diseases, with 600,000 cases around the world each year.
Read more at The University of Queensland