Cytosolic Replication of Group A Streptococcus in Human Macrophages.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

As key components of innate immune defense, macrophages are essential in controlling bacterial pathogens, including group A Streptococcus(GAS). Despite this, only a limited number of studies have analyzed the recovery of GAS from within human neutrophils and macrophages. Here, we determined the intracellular fate of GAS in human macrophages by using several quantitative approaches. In both U937 and primary human macrophages, the appearance over time of long GAS chains revealed that despite GAS-mediated cytotoxicity, replication occurred in viable, propidium iodide-negative macrophages. Whereas the major virulence factor M1 did not contribute to bacterial growth, a GAS mutant strain deficient in streptolysin O (SLO) was impaired for intracellular replication. SLO promoted

SUBMITTER: O'Neill AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4959517 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature