Production of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Contributes to the Pathogenesis of Francisella tularemia.

ABSTRACT: Francisella tularensis(Ft) is a highly virulent, intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogen. Acute Ft infection by aerosol route causes pneumonic tularemia, characterized by nodular hemorrhagic lesions, neutrophil-predominant influx, necrotic debris, fibrin deposition, and severe alveolitis. Ft suppresses activity of neutrophils by impairing their respiratory burst and phagocytic activity. However, the fate of the massive numbers of neutrophils recruited to the infection site is unclear. Here, we show that Ft infection resulted in prominent induction of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) within damaged lungs of mice infected with the live attenuated vaccine strain of Ft(Ft-LVS), as well as in the lungs of domestic cats and rabbits nat

SUBMITTER: Pulavendran S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7193117 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature