David Weiss

A High-Fat Diet May Drive Gut Bacteria to the Brain in Mice Researchers discovered that gut bacteria could travel to the brain via the vagus nerve in mice, offering clues to the gut-brain axis’ involvement in some neurological disorders.

Big thank you to @liuswrites.bsky.social for this wonderful piece about our study revealing bacterial translocation from the gut to the brain in settings of high-fat diet or in models of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and autism.

www.the-scientist.com/a-high-fat-d...

This was an amazing collaboration with Arash Grakoui @grakoui.bsky.social and an exceptional team, especially Manoj Thapa, @anuradhaiitb.bsky.social. Chui-Yoke Chin, @jakechoby.bsky.social and many others.

Big thank you to @plosbiology.org!

@bwfpath.bsky.social, @alzassociation.bsky.social

In all models tested, bacterial translocation to the brain correlated with gut dysbiosis and intestinal barrier permeability, and the bacteria reaching the brain were always found in the gut.

We hope other researchers will investigate these findings and share their results.

Translocation of bacteria from the gut to the brain in mice Recent studies link gut dysbiosis to neurological disease, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study shows that a high-fat diet increases gut permeability and enables bacterial transloc...

Bacteria in our BRAINS??!

We observed translocation of bacteria from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve.

This occurred after high fat diet, or without dietary changes in mouse models of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and autism.

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

This was an amazing collaboration with Arash Grakoui @grakoui.bsky.social and an exceptional team over many years, especially Manoj Thapa, @anuradhaiitb.bsky.social Chui-Yoke Chin, @jakechoby.bsky.social and many others.

In all models tested, bacterial translocation to the brain correlated with gut microbiome disruption and intestinal barrier permeability, and the bacteria reaching the brain were always found in the gut.

We hope other researchers will investigate these findings and share their results.

Efflux pumps control intracellular drug-target kinetics by limiting rebinding in bacteria Efflux pumps disrupt antibiotic rebinding inside bacterial cells, amplifying multidrug resistance.

#NatMicroPicks

More than just pumps? 🦠💊

Bacterial efflux pumps not only block drug entry but also disrupt intracellular drug–target interactions by preventing repeated drug rebinding

#MicroSky

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨 Postdoc Opportunity – Microbiota & Cancer Biology 🚨 (@LSU)
Moreira Lab seeks for enthusiastic postdoc to study microbiota–host interactions in oncology, with focus on 16S rRNA analysis, in vivo. PhD in microbiology/molecular/cell bio/oncology. Competitive salary w/exc.benefits. DM, w/CV and 3refs.

We are hiring postdocs :)

Excited to announce the upcoming 2026 Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity GRC and GRS meeting taking place July 12 - 17, 2026 at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. This meeting will be chaired by yours truly and co-chaired by
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...

Copy number flexibility facilitates heteroresistance to increasing antibiotic pressure and threatens the beta-lactam pipeline Nature Communications - Choby et al. show that dynamic increases in the copy number of preexisting β-lactamase genes in heteroresistance enables resistance of continua of cellular...

We show how bacteria can adapt to B-lactam stress by increasing the copy number of "wimpy" beta-lactamases to overcome new drugs/B-lactamase inhibitors, without de novo evolution. This threatens the beta-lactam dominated antibiotic pipeline.

Congrats @jakechoby.bsky.social and team!
rdcu.be/euijW

@jakechoby.bsky.social is a rockstar - I encourage students/postdocs looking for an amazing mentor and excited to investigate a new frontier in antibiotic resistance to join Jake at UNC to study heteroresistance and defeat superbugs!

Congrats, Jake and team on this exciting paper.

Microbial Pathogenesis & Host Response Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.

Alert! The abstract deadline for the Microbial Pathogenesis & Host Response meeting has been extended to July 7 meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...

Thanks, Jeff!

Thanks, Sunny!

Thanks so much, Lauren! We agree and had never considered this. Big kudos to Julia who was set on investigating this question and persisted through many ups and downs.

Bactericidal antibiotic treatment induces damaging inflammation via TLR9 sensing of bacterial DNA Nature Communications - The immunologic differences induced by bactericidal versus bacteriostatic antibiotics remain unclear. Gross et al. show that, in contrast to static antibiotics, cidal...

Bactericidal antibiotics release bacterial DNA that activates TLR9, while static antibiotics do not. This can profoundly impact treatment outcome. Should clinicians consider this when choosing antibiotics to prescribe?

Amazing work by Julia Gross and collaboration with Iain Fraser!
rdcu.be/d1Phk