title: Essential role of CCL2 in clustering of splenic ERTR-9+ macrophages during infection of BALB/c mice by Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: Early interactions between pathogens and host cells are often decisive for the subsequent course of infection. Here we investigated early events during infection by Listeria monocytogenes, a ubiquitously occurring facultative intracellular microorganism that exhibits severe pathogenicity, mainly in immunocompromised individuals. We show that the inflammatory chemokine CCL2 is highly up-regulated early after Listeria infection in spleens of BALB/c mice. ERTR-9+ macrophages of the marginal zone were identified as the only infected cells and exclusive producers of CCL2 at the early time point. Consequently, clusters of different cell types were formed around infected ERTR-9+ cells. Metallophilic MOMA-1+ marginal zone macrophages were, however, excluded from the clusters and migrated into the B-cell follicles. Depletion of CCL2 during infection resulted in a different composition of cell clusters in the spleen and increased the mortality rate of treated mice. Interestingly, ERTR-9+ macrophages no longer were part of clusters in such mice but remained at their original location in the marginal zone.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstrasse 7, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany. jja@gbf.de
authors.forename: Jadwiga
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jablonska
authors.forename: Kurt E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Dittmar
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kleinke
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buer
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000276:immunology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000276:immunology; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C491768:Ccl2 protein, mouse; D018932:Chemokine CCL2