<i>Coxiella burnetii</i> Strains Elicit Distinct Inflammatory Responses in Human Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of human Q fever, subverts macrophage antimicrobial functions to establish an intracellular replicative niche. To better understand host-pathogen interactions, we investigated the transcriptional responses of human alveolar macrophages (hAMs) infected with virulent [NMI, G (Q212)], attenuated (NMII), and avirulent (Dugway) strains of C. burnetii. RNA sequencing indicated that all strains activated proinflammatory pathways, particularly IL-17 signaling, though the magnitude and nature of the response varied by strain. Infections with NMI, NMII or G (Q212) resulted in differential expression of roughly the same number of genes, while Dugway infection induced a stronger transcriptional response. Dugway and G (Q212) tended to polarize macrop

SUBMITTER: Sachan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12655803 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature