How do macrophages distinguish the living from the dead?
Injection of live but not dead bacteria induces a wave of IL-12 and subsequently, IFN-gamma production. Surprisingly, in vitro, both live and dead bacteria elicit IL-12 from macrophages. Better understanding of how macrophages distinguish live from dead bacteria would help explain this difference and possibly bypass the need for live vaccines against intracellular bacteria.
Cheers
C
C
Dept of Microbiology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. christina_cheers@muwayf.unimelb.edu.au
Zhan
Y
Y
D001419:Bacteria / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology
D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma