Detection of bioorthogonal groups by correlative light and electron microscopy allows imaging of degraded bacteria in phagocytes.

ABSTRACT: The interaction between parasites and phagocytic immune cells is a key inter-species interaction in biology. Normally, phagocytosis results in the killing of invaders, but obligate intracellular parasites hijack the pathway to ensure their survival and replication. The in situ study of these parasites in the phagocytic pathway is very difficult, as genetic modification is often complicated and, if successful, only allows the tracking of pathogen phagocytosis up until the degradation of the engineered reporter constructs. Here we combine bioorthogonal chemistry with correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) to follow bacterial processing in the phagolysosomal system. Labelled bacteria are produced using bioorthogonal non-canonical amino tagging (BONCAT), precluding the need for an

SUBMITTER: van Elsland DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5529995 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature