Researchers discover how Mycoplasma pneumoniae acquires cholesterol from human hosts

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260116/Researchers-discover-how-Mycoplasma-pneumoniae-acquires-cholesterol-from-human-hosts.aspx A multidisciplinary team has uncovered a key mechanism that allows the human bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae-responsible for atypical pneumonia and other respiratory infections-to obtain cholesterol and other essential lipids directly from the human body. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, was co-led by Dr. Noemí Rotllan, from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Center for Biomedical Research in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM); Dr. Marina Marcos, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB); and Dr. David Vizarraga, from the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona of the Spanish National Research Council (IBMB-CSIC) and the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG). Overall coordination was led by Dr. Joan Carles Escolà-Gil, from IR Sant Pau and CIBERDEM; Dr. Jaume Piñol, from UAB; and Dr. Ignacio Fita, from IBMB-CSIC. The study also involved collaboration from the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the UAB (IBB-UAB), the Center for Biomedical Research in Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), and other leading institutions.