Leishmania major drives host phagocyte death and cell-to-cell transfer depending on intracellular pathogen proliferation rate.

ABSTRACT: The virulence of intracellular pathogens relies largely on the ability to survive and replicate within phagocytes but also on release and transfer into new host cells. Such cell-to-cell transfer could represent a target for counteracting microbial pathogenesis. However, our understanding of the underlying cellular and molecular processes remains woefully insufficient. Using intravital 2-photon microscopy of caspase-3 activation in the Leishmania major-infected (L. major-infected) live skin, we showed increased apoptosis in cells infected by the parasite. Also, transfer of the parasite to new host cells occurred directly without a detectable extracellular state and was associated with concomitant uptake of cellular material from the original host cell. These in vivo findings were fully reca

SUBMITTER: Baars I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10443809 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature