The miR-744-5p/connexin 43 axis modulates Salmonella-containing vacuole association with the Golgi network.

miR-744-5p inhibits late-stage Salmonella intracellular replication by modulating connexin 43, which maintains Golgi organization and vacuole positioning.

• Why it matters: Understanding host microRNA regulation of Salmonella infection can reveal new targets for controlling bacterial replication and pathogenesis, addressing gaps in host-pathogen interaction knowledge.
• What they did: Researchers used large-scale functional screening and transcriptomic analyses to identify miR-744-5p as a strong inhibitor of Salmonella, with conserved activity across strains, and examined connexin 43 as its target through gene depletion and upregulation experiments.
• The result: Findings show that connexin 43 supports Salmonella vacuole positioning by maintaining Golgi structure, and its regulation by miR-744-5p influences bacterial replication, highlighting a novel role for connexin 43 in Golgi homeostasis.