Live-cell imaging reveals single-cell and population-level infection strategies of Listeria monocytogenes in macrophages

ABSTRACT: Pathogens have developed intricate strategies to overcome the host’s innate immune responses. In this paper we use live-cell microscopy with a single bacterium resolution to follow in real time interactions between the food-borne pathogen L. monocytogenes and host macrophages, a key event controlling the infection in vivo. We demonstrate that infection results in heterogeneous outcomes, with only a subset of bacteria able to establish a replicative invasion of macrophages. The fate of individual bacteria in the same host cell was independent from the host cell and non-cooperative, being independent from co-infecting bacteria. A higher multiplicity of infection resulted in a reduced probability of replication of the overall bacterial population. By use of internalisation assays and conditio

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PROVIDER: S-EPMC10478088 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature