Oh what tangled webs we weave...

A wide range of molecules in plants and animals have the capacity to form net-like structures to trap pathogens. In concert with antimicrobial compounds, these aggregates can become efficient killing machines. In other instances, as with the intracellular septins, such structures may constrain pathogenic organisms and direct them to an autophagic tryst with deadly lysosomes. Most curiously, a meshwork of proteins in the mosquito gut appears to protect luminal bacteria from immune cells. Several recent studies delve into the intricacies of net formation and its role in microbial containment.