Researchers have discovered a previously unknown process by which tuberculosis, malaria and chlamydia causing pathogens enter a cell with physical force, breaching the body's immune defences that prevent infection. These diseases are notoriously difficult to treat because the pathogens are protected inside host cells. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, introduces a potential game-changer in the fight against intracellular pathogens responsible for causing the devastating infectious diseases.

“Using the parasite Toxoplasma as our representative pathogen, our work shows that some intracellular pathogens can apply physical forces during their entry into host cells, which then allow the pathogens to evade degradation and to survive intracellularly,” said lead author Yan Yu, Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry at Indiana University-Bloomington.