Bacteria can slip into the brain by commandeering cells in the brain’s protective layers, a new study finds. The results hint at how a deadly infection called bacterial meningitis takes hold.
In mice infected with meningitis-causing bacteria, the microbes exploit previously unknown communication between pain-sensing nerve cells and immune cells to slip by the brain’s defenses, researchers report March 1 in Nature. The results also hint at a new way to possibly delay the invasion — using migraine medicines to interrupt those cell-to-cell conversations.
Science News headlines, in your inbox
Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your email inbox every Thursday.
Bacterial
→ Continue reading at Science News