Dissemination of a highly virulent pathogen: tracking the early events that define infection.

ABSTRACT: The series of events that occurs immediately after pathogen entrance into the body is largely speculative. Key aspects of these events are pathogen dissemination and pathogen interactions with the immune response as the invader moves into deeper tissues. We sought to define major events that occur early during infection of a highly virulent pathogen. To this end, we tracked early dissemination of Yersinia pestis, a highly pathogenic bacterium that causes bubonic plague in mammals. Specifically, we addressed two fundamental questions: (1) do the bacteria encounter barriers in disseminating to draining lymph nodes (LN), and (2) what mechanism does this nonmotile bacterium use to reach the LN compartment, as the prevailing model predicts trafficking in association with host cells. Infection w

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4303270 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature