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Superinfecting mycobacteria home to established tuberculous granulomas.
Title | Superinfecting mycobacteria home to established tuberculous granulomas. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2004 |
Authors | Cosma, CL, Humbert, O, Ramakrishnan, L |
Journal | Nat Immunol |
Volume | 5 |
Issue | 8 |
Pagination | 828-35 |
Date Published | 2004 Aug |
ISSN | 1529-2908 |
Keywords | Animals, Disease Models, Animal, Gene Products, gag, Granuloma, Liver, Lung, Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous, Mycobacterium marinum, Rana pipiens, Salmonella arizonae, Salmonella Infections, Spleen, Superinfection, Tuberculosis, Zebrafish |
Abstract | A central paradox of tuberculosis immunity is that reinfection and bacterial persistence occur despite vigorous host immune responses concentrated in granulomas, which are organized structures that form in response to infection. Prevailing models attribute reinfection and persistence to bacterial avoidance of host immunity via establishment of infection outside primary granulomas. Alternatively, persistence is attributed to a gradual bacterial adaptation to evolving host immune responses. We show here that superinfecting Mycobacterium marinum traffic rapidly into preexisting granulomas, including their caseous (necrotic) centers, through specific mycobacterium-directed and host cell-mediated processes, yet adapt quickly to persist long term therein. These findings demonstrate a failure of established granulomas, concentrated foci of activated macrophages and antigen-specific immune effector cells, to eradicate newly deposited mycobacteria not previously exposed to host responses. |
DOI | 10.1038/ni1091 |
Alternate Journal | Nat. Immunol. |
PubMed ID | 15220915 |
Grant List | R01 AI 36396 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States |