The immune cytokine interferon-γ is capable of eliciting nearly 2000 host genes, including several families of guanosine triphosphatases such as the interferon-inducible, 65-kilodalton guanylate-binding proteins (Gbps). Kim et al. systematically assessed the effects of inactivating each member of the mouse family of Gbps and found that several were important in soliciting the machinery to combat intracellular bacterial infections by oxidative killing, phagocytosis, and autophagy.
B.-H. Kim, A. R. Shenoy, P. Kumar, R. Das, S. Tiwari, J. D. MacMicking, A family of IFN-γ–inducible 65-kD GTPases protects against bacterial infection. Science 332, 717–721 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]
