How immune cells kill bacteria with acid

(CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) The first line of immune defense against invading pathogens like bacteria are macrophages, immune cells that engulf every foreign object that crosses their way and kill their prey with acid. However, it is not yet entirely understood how the acidification process is established. In their quest to systematically study proteins that transport chemicals across cellular membranes, researchers at CeMM characterized the ...