Pathogen Cell-to-Cell Variability Drives Heterogeneity in Host Immune Responses.

ABSTRACT: Encounters between immune cells and invading bacteria ultimately determine the course of infection. These interactions are usually measured in populations of cells, masking cell-to-cell variation that may be important for infection outcome. To characterize the gene expression variation that underlies distinct infection outcomes and monitor infection phenotypes, we developed an experimental system that combines single-cell RNA-seq with fluorescent markers. Probing the responses of individual macrophages to invading Salmonella, we find that variation between individual infected host cells is determined by the heterogeneous activity of bacterial factors in individual infecting bacteria. We illustrate how variable PhoPQ activity in the population of invading bacteria drives variable host type

SUBMITTER: Avraham R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4578813 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature