A New Chemical Trick to Prevent House from Collapsing by Bacterial Pathogens

M etazoans often induce cell death as an ultimate strategy to prevent disastrous damage to the body under circumstances when insults, such as infection are impossible to clear. Inflammatory cell death or pyroptosis not only eliminates the replicative niche for the pathogen but also stimulates effective immune protection. A recent study by Shao, Liu and colleagues found that the Shigella flexneri effector OspC3 inactivates an inflammasome by a novel posttranslational modification termed ADP-riboxanation. This finding has greatly expanded the chemical tool box of pathogens in their manipulation of host function, which may be used to probe unrecognized signaling mechanisms.