title: Infection with Listeria monocytogenes as a probe for placental immunological function.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Indira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guleria
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pollard
mesh_terms: 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