Infection with Listeria monocytogenes as a probe for placental immunological function.
This chapter will describe the use of infection with Listeria monocytogenes, a Gram-positive intracellular bacterium, to study immunological responses in the placenta. This bacterium is chosen because it has a predilection for replication in the placenta. As such, it is a significant pathogen for pregnant women, being a major cause of fetal mortality and morbidity if appropriate public health precautions are not observed. Furthermore, this bacterium has been a major tool for studying innate immune responses and their transition to an acquired one, characterized by a Th1-type response. Details are given for the culture and maintenance of bacteria stocks, infection of mice, and analysis of the resultant infection. Such studies have revealed a unique pattern of immune responses in the placenta that, through the methods described, should reveal the strategies that the placenta uses to eradicate pathogens while not rejecting allogenic fetuses.
Barber
Ellen M
EM
Center for Study of Reproductive Biology and Women's Health, Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA.
Guleria
Indira
I
Pollard
Jeffrey W
JW
D000818:Animals; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000254:growth & development; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051379:Mice; D010920:Placenta / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy