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Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology
Salmonella Typhimurium reprograms macrophage metabolism via T3SS effector SopE2 to promote intracellular replication and virulence
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Conflicts of Interest
Identified Weaknesses
Rating Explanation
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Paper Summary
Paperzilla title
Salmonella's Sneaky Sugar Heist: Stealing Macrophage Snacks to Fuel Infection
Salmonella Typhimurium reprograms macrophage metabolism to enhance its own intracellular replication and virulence. It does this by increasing glycolysis, suppressing serine synthesis (via SopE2 effector), and utilizing accumulated 3PG as a carbon source, while also sensing pyruvate and lactate to activate virulence genes (SPI-2) via the CreBC system.
Possible Conflicts of Interest
None identified
Identified Weaknesses
Limited in vivo validation
The study primarily uses in vitro and ex vivo models (peritoneal macrophages and RAW264.7 cells). While these models offer valuable insights into cellular mechanisms, they may not fully reflect the complex interplay of immune cells and metabolic changes in a living organism during an actual infection. This limits the generalizability of the findings to in vivo settings.
Combined host-bacterial metabolomics
The metabolomics analysis quantifies combined metabolite levels from both infected macrophages and intracellular STM. While the authors argue that host metabolites dominate due to the small bacterial biomass, this approach doesn't fully isolate STM-specific metabolic changes, potentially masking subtle but important bacterial adaptations.
Limited strain diversity
The study focuses on a single STM strain (14028s). While some findings are confirmed in another strain (SL1344), broader validation across diverse STM strains is needed to establish the universality of the identified metabolic reprogramming mechanisms.
Incomplete mechanistic pathway for SopE2's effect
The study shows SopE2 suppresses serine synthesis, but the downstream pathway through which Cdc42 regulates Phgdh remains unclear. This gap in mechanistic understanding weakens the connection between SopE2 activity and metabolic reprogramming.
Rating Explanation
This study presents novel findings on STM metabolic reprogramming in macrophages, revealing how the bacteria manipulates host metabolism to its advantage. The methodology is generally sound, employing both metabolomics and transcriptomics, and the in vivo validation, although limited, supports the key conclusions. However, certain weaknesses regarding in vivo models, combined metabolomics, and a mechanistic gap related to SopE2 prevent a top rating.
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Topic Hierarchy
File Information
Original Title:
Salmonella Typhimurium reprograms macrophage metabolism via T3SS effector SopE2 to promote intracellular replication and virulence
File Name:
s41467-021-21186-4.pdf
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July 14, 2025 at 11:20 AM
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