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Some macrophages kill Listeria monocytogenes while others do not
Author(s) -
Fleming Sherry D.,
Campbell Priscilla A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
immunological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.839
H-Index - 223
eISSN - 1600-065X
pISSN - 0105-2896
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1997.tb00993.x
Subject(s) - listeria monocytogenes , biology , listeria infection , listeria , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , bacteria , genetics
Summary: It is not known why some macrophages can kill certain microbes, such as the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes), while other macrophages cannot. Perhaps listericidal activity is a property of macrophages at specific stages of differentiation; maybe the ability to kill this bacterium is regulated by the microenvironment of the cell; or it is possible that other regulatory forces are important. We describe here three characteristics that distinguish macrophages which can kill I. monocytogenes from those which cannot. First, listericidal macrophages must have neither too much nor too little intracellular iron ‐ they must have an intermediate amount. Second, the receptor a macrophage uses to phagocytose L. monocytogenes seems to influence the intracellular fate of this bacterium. And third, macrophages which have cell‐surface interleukin‐10 (IL‐10), a known down regulator of macrophage function, can‐not kill L. monocytogenes. These trails of macrophages and their effects on listericidal activity are reviewed here, and the possibility that these properties might interact to control macrophage bactericidal activity is discussed.