{
  "id": 17729168,
  "title": "Follistatin-like 1 Promotes Neutrophil-mediated Host Defense against Klebsiella pneumoniae",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/follistatin-like-1-promotes-neutrophil-mediated-host-defense-against",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.27.762279v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of severe and antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, poses a significant public health concern. Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL-1) is a protein with diverse roles in lung development, homeostasis, tissue remodeling, and inflammation, but its function in fighting bacterial infections is unclear. Researchers have discovered that FSTL-1 levels increase in the lungs of humans and mice during bacterial pneumonia. To investigate FSTL-1's role, scientists created a special mouse model lacking the FSTL-1 gene. This knockout mouse model showed that FSTL-1 is essential for clearing bacteria from the lungs and recruiting neutrophils, immune cells that fight infections. When the scientists introduced recombinant FSTL-1 into the knockout mice, it restored the mice's ability to fight off the K. pneumoniae infection. The researchers found that FSTL-1's protective effect depended on neutrophils and two other proteins, Cd14 and Nr4a1, that are involved in a specific lung immune response. These findings reveal FSTL-1 as a critical factor in the immune system's ability to clear bacteria from the lungs, opening up new possibilities for treating bacterial pneumonia infections.",
  "summary": "Klebsiella pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia and highly burdensome etiology of antibiotic-resistant infections constituting an urgent public health threat. Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL-1) is implicated in many processes including lung development and homeostasis, tissue remodeling, and inflammation though its role in antibacterial immunity remains poorly defined. We have observed that FSTL-1…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}