The Iron age of host–microbe interactions

MP Soares, G Weiss - EMBO reports, 2015 - embopress.org
EMBO reports, 2015embopress.org
Microbes exert a major impact on human health and disease by either promoting or
disrupting homeostasis, in the latter instance leading to the development of infectious
diseases. Such disparate outcomes are driven by the ever‐evolving genetic diversity of
microbes and the countervailing host responses that minimize their pathogenic impact. Host
defense strategies that limit microbial pathogenicity include resistance mechanisms that
exert a negative impact on microbes, and disease tolerance mechanisms that sustain host …
Abstract
Microbes exert a major impact on human health and disease by either promoting or disrupting homeostasis, in the latter instance leading to the development of infectious diseases. Such disparate outcomes are driven by the ever‐evolving genetic diversity of microbes and the countervailing host responses that minimize their pathogenic impact. Host defense strategies that limit microbial pathogenicity include resistance mechanisms that exert a negative impact on microbes, and disease tolerance mechanisms that sustain host homeostasis without interfering directly with microbes. While genetically distinct, these host defense strategies are functionally integrated, via mechanisms that remain incompletely defined. Here, we explore the general principles via which host adaptive responses regulating iron (Fe) metabolism impact on resistance and disease tolerance to infection.
embopress.org