Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Immunity. 2008 Feb;28(2):271-84. Epub 2008 Feb 7.
Related Articles, Links
Click here to read Click here to read
Comment in:
Macrophage and T cell dynamics during the development and disintegration of mycobacterial granulomas.

Egen JG, Rothfuchs AG, Feng CG, Winter N, Sher A, Germain RN.

Lymphocyte Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.

Granulomas play a key role in host protection against mycobacterial pathogens, with their breakdown contributing to exacerbated disease. To better understand the initiation and maintenance of these structures, we employed both high-resolution multiplex static imaging and intravital multiphoton microscopy of Mycobacterium bovis BCG-induced liver granulomas. We found that Kupffer cells directly capture blood-borne bacteria and subsequently nucleate formation of a nascent granuloma by recruiting both uninfected liver-resident macrophages and blood-derived monocytes. Within the mature granuloma, these myeloid cell populations formed a relatively immobile cellular matrix that interacted with a highly dynamic effector T cell population. The efficient recruitment of these T cells was highly dependent on TNF-alpha-derived signals, which also maintained the granuloma structure through preferential effects on uninfected macrophage populations. By characterizing the migration of both innate and adaptive immune cells throughout the process of granuloma development, these studies provide a new perspective on the cellular events involved in mycobacterial containment and escape.

Publication Types:
PMID: 18261937 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC2390753 [Available on 02/01/09]