New study sheds light on how intracellular pathogens trigger the immune system

(PhysOrg.com) -- Disease-causing microbes like the food-borne bacterium Listeria monocytogenes specialize in invading and replicating inside their animal hosts' own cells, making them particularly tricky to defeat. Now, a new study led by biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, has identified a molecular alarm system in which the intracellular pathogen sends out signals that kick the immune response into gear.