Quantifying the Vulnerability of Host Cells to Salmonella Infection

What is it about?

Host cell heterogeneity is a common feature in vitro and in vivo: Genetically identical cells present different behaviors and morphologies. This biological phenomenon could explain why some cells are more targeted than others by pathogens. However, the investigation of host cell heterogeneity has remained highly challenging. Voznica and colleagues established a high-throughput/high-content analytical pipeline to provide quantitative information of epithelial host cell vulnerability towards Salmonella infection. Their analysis distinguishes between the intrinsic cell vulnerability involving inherent host cell attributes and the vulnerability induced by bacterial uptake. They identified local cell crowding as a key feature to predict Salmonella infection efficiency.

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