What is Mitochondrial coxiella effector F (MceF)?

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About Mitochondrial coxiella effector F (MceF):

It is a bacterial protein capable of keeping human cells healthy even when the cells have a heavy bacterial burden.
It is produced by Coxiella burnetii, a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium.
After invading host cells, Coxiella burnetii releases MceF into cells.
MceF interacts with glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), an anti-oxidant enzyme located in the mitochondria, to improve mitochondrial function by promoting an anti-oxidizing effect that averts cell damage and death, which may occur when pathogens replicate inside mammalian cells.

Key Facts about Coxiella burnetii:

It is a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium.
It is the causative agent of a serious infection called Q fever, a zoonotic disease that can affect humans and animals.
The bacterium is primarily transmitted to humans through the inhalation of contaminated aerosols from infected animals, particularly through the air-borne particles from placental tissues, urine, feces, and milk of infected domestic animals like cattle, sheep, and goats.
It causes atypical pneumonia in humans and coxiellosis in some animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats.
It is highly adapted to invade and control macrophages and monocytes–white blood cells that are part of the organism’s front-line immune defense–inhibiting the host’s responses to the infection.

· Unlike other bacteria, which cause disease only when they multiply to reach large numbers, a single C. burnetii is enough to make a healthy person sick.

Q1: What is Mitochondria?

Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles (mitochondrion, singular) that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in a small molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondria contain their own small chromosomes. Generally, mitochondria, and therefore mitochondrial DNA, are inherited only from the mother.

Source:Scientists Have Discovered a Previously Unknown Protein Capable of Keeping Human Cells Healthy