Mycobacteria release active membrane vesicles that modulate immune responses in a TLR2-dependent manner in mice.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria naturally release membrane vesicles (MVs) under a variety of growth environments. Their production is associated with virulence due to their capacity to concentrate toxins and immunomodulatory molecules. In this report, we show that the 2 medically important species of mycobacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin, release MVs when growing in both liquid culture and within murine phagocytic cells in vitro and in vivo. We documented MV production in a variety of virulent and nonvirulent mycobacterial species, indicating that release of MVs is a property conserved among mycobacterial species. Extensive proteomic analysis revealed that only MVs from the virulent strains contained TLR2 lipoprotein agonists. The interaction of MVs with macroph

SUBMITTER: Prados-Rosales R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3069770 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature