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1: Science. 2005 Sep 9;309(5741):1739-41. Epub 2005 Jul 28.
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Plague bacteria target immune cells during infection.

Marketon MM, DePaolo RW, DeBord KL, Jabri B, Schneewind O.

Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

The plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Plague bacteria are thought to inject effector Yop proteins into host cells via the type III pathway. The identity of the host cells targeted for injection during plague infection is unknown. We found, using Yop beta-lactamase hybrids and fluorescent staining of live cells from plague-infected animals, that Y. pestis selected immune cells for injection. In vivo, dendritic cells, macrophages, and neutrophils were injected most frequently, whereas B and T lymphocytes were rarely selected. Thus, it appears that Y. pestis disables these cell populations to annihilate host immune responses during plague.

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PMID: 16051750 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]