Listeria, one of the most deadly causes of bacterial food poisoning, subverts a normally protective immune response to spread its infection more effectively, according to new research at National Jewish Health. Immunologists Laurel Lenz, PhD, Peter Henson, PhD, and their colleagues report online April 26, 2012, in the journal Immunity that production of nitric oxide (NO) by activated macrophages, which is normally thought of as an infection-fighting response, actually helps Listeria monocytogenes to more efficiently disseminate between infected and neighboring uninfected cells.
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