Mitochondria and pathogen immunity: from killer to firestarter

Abstract

© 2019 The Authors Serving as an innate defence mechanism, invading pathogens elicit a broad inflammatory response in cells. In this issue, Brokatzky et al (2019) report that pathogens can cause activation of BAX/BAK which permeabilises a limited number of mitochondria. Induction of DNA damage, or release of mtDNA, triggers STING-dependent pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and secretion, revealing an unexpected role for the mitochondrial apoptotic machinery in immune defence.