Discover why patients that smoke have more severe lung infections.

What is it about?

Cigarette smoking increases the risk of lung infections. We show that a heavy metal, cadmium, in cigarettes reduces the ability of a defense-fighting cell to limit the severity of lung infections. Cadmium inhibited the ability of the initial defense-fighting cell to kill bacteria.

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Why is it important?

Cadmium in cigarette smoke inhibited the formation of NOX2, which is required to kill bacteria. This inhibition is due to blocking the activation of one component of NOX2, the small GTPase, Rac2. Rac2 activation is required for binding to p67phox and bringing it to the complex NOX2.