{"id":2000112002,"date":"2026-05-15T09:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000112002"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:44:53","slug":"immune-boosting-therapy-shows-promise-against-superbugs-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/immune-boosting-therapy-shows-promise-against-superbugs-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Immune-boosting therapy shows promise against superbugs: study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A study led by Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) found that immune cells activate a process known as mitochondrial fission — where mitochondria split into smaller units — to kill invading bacteria, said a UQ statement released Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, some bacteria have evolved strategies to block this process, allowing infections to persist, said James Curson from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, co-author of the study published in the journal Science Immunology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers discovered that an experimental compound, known as an HDAC6 inhibitor, can re-activate mitochondrial fission in immune cells to fight invading bacteria, Curson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This treatment works by modifying the body’s immune response to support mitochondrial fission, enabling it to fight bacteria without targeting bacteria directly, like antibiotics,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study showed that bacterial infection induces mitochondrial fission, which in turn activates the body’s intracellular energy reserves to accumulate antimicrobial lipid droplets — defense mechanisms that help fight off infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agents called host-directed therapies (HDTs) could help address “the global burden of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” identified by the World Health Organization as a top global public health threat, Curson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers said bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics, often called “superbugs,” are very difficult to treat and new approaches like HDTs are urgently needed to combat these infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
When under attack, the body\u2019s immune cells activate a cellular process called \u2018mitochondrial fission\u2019 to kill invading bacteria. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers in Australia have identified a potential new way to combat drug-resistant bacterial infections by boosting the body’s own immune response, offering a promising alternative to antibiotics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000112003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"byline":[235],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000112002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","byline-xinhua"],"bylines":[{"id":235,"name":"Xinhua","slug":"xinhua","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":80}],"contributors":[{"id":235,"name":"Xinhua","slug":"xinhua","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":80}],"featured_image":{"id":2000112003,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","alt":"","caption":"When under attack, the body\u2019s immune cells activate a cellular process called \u2018mitochondrial fission\u2019 to kill invading bacteria. ","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1080,"height":756,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","width":150,"height":105},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","width":300,"height":210},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","width":768,"height":538},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","width":1024,"height":717},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/imb-mda-2026-mitochondrial-fission-1080.jpg","width":1080,"height":756}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000112002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000112004,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000112002\/revisions\/2000112004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000112003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000112002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000112002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000112002"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000112002"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000112002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}