Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Infection and Immunity, September 1998, p. 4461-4468, Vol. 66, No. 9
Unité des Intéractions
Bactéries-Cellules,
Received 30 March 1998/Returned for modification 27 May
1998/Accepted 18 June 1998
Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular
pathogen that causes severe central nervous system infection in
humans and animals. The ability of this bacterium to penetrate nerve
cells was investigated by using rat spinal cell cultures. Entry into
distinct cell types, i.e., glial cells and neurons, was monitored by a
differential immunofluorescence technique with antibodies against
cell type-specific markers and the bacterial pathogen. L. monocytogenes was detected predominantly within macrophages
constituting the microglia. Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, the major
components of macroglia, were infected to a lesser extent.
Surprisingly, Listeria innocua, a noninvasive and
nonpathogenic species, also has the capacity to enter into these three
types of glial cells. Entry into neurons was a very rare event. In
contrast, we found that L. monocytogenes could
efficiently invade neurons when these latter cells were cocultivated
with Listeria-infected mouse macrophages. In this case,
infection of neurons occurs by cell-to-cell spread via an actA-dependent mechanism. These data support the notion
that infected phagocytes can be vectors by which L. monocytogenes gains access to privileged niches such as the
central nervous system.
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Entry of Listeria monocytogenes
into Neurons Occurs by Cell-to-Cell Spread: an In Vitro Study
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité des
Intéractions Bactéries-Cellules, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue
du Dr Roux, 75015 Paris, France. Phone: (33 1) 45 68 88 41. Fax: (33 1)
45 68 87 06. E-mail: pcossart{at}pasteur.fr.
Infection and Immunity, September 1998, p. 4461-4468, Vol. 66, No. 9
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| J. Bacteriol. | J. Virol. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|
| Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. | Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | All ASM Journals |
|---|