AI analysis of how bacteria attack could help predict infection outcomes

Insights into how bacterial proteins work as a network to take control of our cells could help predict infection outcomes and develop new treatments. Much like a hacker seizes control of a company's software to cause chaos, disease-causing bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella, use miniature molecular syringes to inject their own chaos-inducing agents (called effectors) into the cells that keep our guts healthy. These effectors take control of our cells, overwhelming their defences and blocking key immune responses, allowing the infection to take hold. Previously, studies have investigated single effectors. Now a team led by scientists at Imperial College London and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and including researchers from the UK, Spain and Israel, has studied whole sets of effectors in different combinations.