Michigan Center for Infectious Disease Threats at University of Michigan

Red blood cells capture and deliver bacterial DNA to drive host responses during polymicrobial sepsis

Mar 31, 2025

Authors: Robert Dickson,

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MCIDT Affiliate Robert Dickson and others find that red blood cells (RBCs) can be an overlooked reservoirs for bacterial DNA (bDNA) which can influence host inflammatory response, with sepsis patients RBCs harboring more bDNA than healthy patients

Key Terms: Sepsis, Red Blood Cells, Bacteria

Multiple figures that show RBCs from WT but not Erytlr9–/– mice acquire microbial DNA and demonstrate morphologic changes during sepsis. The rest of the explanation is on the caption of this figure on the paper, which is figure 1
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