Jeff Collins is a physician scientist in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University focused on using metabolomics and systems biology to better understand the pathophysiology of tuberculosis disease, identify new biomarkers, and elucidate targets for host-directed therapeutics. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how the paper "Succinate is an inflammatory signal that induces IL-1β through HIF-1α" by Tannahill et al. (G. M. Tannahill, A. M. Curtis, J. Adamik, E. M. Palsson-McDermott, et al., Nature 496:238-242, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11986) influenced him by highlighting the intersection between metabolism and the host response to infectious diseases.
Keywords: immunity; inflammation; metabolic modeling.