A molecular balancing act: understanding metal ion homeostasis in A. baumannii during infection

细菌在各种重金属丰度的变化中表现出明显的弱点。为了利用这一点，当感染期间检测到细菌时，宿主改变了锌、铜和铁的可用性。这项研究将表征这些宿主金属通量和细菌感知和响应这些变化的能力。这将最终阐明宿主诱导的金属胁迫在细菌清除中的重要作用，以及细菌如何在分子水平上克服这种金属胁迫。

Bacteria display significant weakness during changes in the abundance of various heavy metals. To exploit this, the host alters the availability of zinc, copper and iron when the bacteria are detected during infection. This study will characterise these host metal fluxes and bacterium's ability to sense and respond to these changes. This will finally elucidate the important role of host-induced metal stress in bacterial clearance and how bacteria overcome this metal stress on a molecular level.