The Tuberculosis Bacterium's Stealthy Ways

Mycobacteria tuberculosis infects immune cells called macrophages, which function as temporary 'incubators' while the bacteria multiply. Eventually the macrophages burst, releasing the bacteria to infect other cells. Normally macrophages infected with bacteria would undergo a form of cell death called apoptosis and trigger an immune response.

Heinz Remold and colleagues found that M. tuberculosis prevent macrophages from undergoing apoptosis. Instead, M. tuberculosis caused macrophages to die by necrosis, another form of cell death that allows the bacteria to escape from their host cells and infect new cells. By revealing how M. tuberculosis can evade the immune system this study provides significant insight into the development of tuberculosis disease.

Author contact:

Heinz G. Remold (Brigham and Women's Hospital Medicine, Boston, MA, USA)
E-mail: hremold@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Abstract available online.

(C) Nature Immunology press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza