You are what you eat: metabolic recycling of phagocytosed bacteria modulates macrophage immunity

In a recent study show that phagocytosed bacteria can be recycled by macrophages to serve as an alternative nutrient source. Bacterial cAMP was identified as a signal for macrophages to differentiate between dead and live bacteria and to adjust the inflammatory response accordingly. You are what you eat - at least when it comes to macrophages. Macrophages have a high capacity to take up fluid, macromolecules, apoptotic cells, and microorganisms from the extracellular space. Uptake of macromolecules by macropinocytosis and subsequent degradation in lysosomes in an infectious or autoimmune setting can lead to excessive inflammation. It is also known that engulfment of apoptotic cells and digestion in phagolysosomes by the macrophages generates amino acids, nucleotides, and fatty acids that then act as metabolites and signalling molecules in the macrophages and influence their cellular functions. Up until now, it was largely believed that phagolysosomes containing engulfed microorganisms are tightly sealed vesicles, so that potentially harmful components from the foreign organisms aren’t diffused in the cell. Lesbats et al. show here for the first time that macrophages recycle engulfed bacteria and use the components as nutrient source.