Macrophage polarization drives granuloma outcome during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), induces formation of granulomas, structures in which immune cells and bacteria colocalize. Macrophages are among the most abundant cell types in granulomas and have been shown to serve as both critical bactericidal cells and targets for M. tuberculosis infection and proliferation throughout the course of infection. Very little is known about how these processes are regulated, what controls macrophage microenvironment-specific polarization and plasticity, or why some granulomas control bacteria and others permit bacterial dissemination. We take a computational-biology approach to investigate mechanisms that drive macrophage polarization, function, and bacterial control in granulomas. We define a "macrophage polarization r

SUBMITTER: Marino S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4288886 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature