and concluded that proteins were degraded in the lysosome (Straus 1954). In another series of experiments, Zanvil Cohn fed macrophages (a type of cell in the immune system) radiolabeled bacteria.

Flagellin proteins, cell wall components of bacteria; we don’t have a cell wall ... that bug will get stuck in a lysosome and killed, and you would then activate your pattern recognition receptors. So ...

Research had already established one way that cells repair leaky lysosomes. Previously, a collection of proteins known as the ESCRT machinery was found to patch up holes in the organelles’ membranes.

The study highlights how oral infections, especially those involving Porphyromonas gingivalis, can worsen heart health.