Researchers at Unicamp and USP have shown that macrophages, immune cells that fight microbes, change the way they produce energy in the very first hours after detecting a pathogen, earlier than was known.
The protein HIF-1α acts as a switch: in a first phase, the cells use more glucose to get quick energy, which helps fight bacteria. Later, nitric oxide reduces energy production in the mitochondria, in a second phase driven by a different mechanism.
The study, published in Molecular Cell by Pedro Vieira (Unicamp) and Larissa Dias Cunha (FMRP-USP), suggests that acting on HIF-1α at the right time could strengthen the early response to infections such as sepsis and bacterial lung infections.
