Stopping Bacteria from Stealing Our Iron
By Ada Hagan @adahagan As we discussed last time, bacteria that infect the human body face a major challenge, iron, which is essential for bacterial growth, is hard to obtain from human tissues. Many pathogenic bacteria solve this problem by deploying “stealth siderophores,” which steal iron from human iron-binding proteins while evading our defenses. In the battle between humans and pathogenic bacteria, our best weapons—antibiotics—are being weakened by widespread resistance. Is there a way to use bacteria’s need for iron against them? Researchers have pursued the answer to this question…
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