Journal
PATHOGENS AND DISEASE
Volume 67, Issue 1, Pages 54-66Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/2049-632X.12007
Keywords
mycobacteria; human leukocyte; host defense
Categories
Funding
- Swedish Research Council
- West Gothia region, Sweden
- Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden
- Goteborg Medical Society
- Oscar & Hanna Bjorkbom Foundation, Sweden
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Mononuclear phagocytes, that is, monocytes and macrophages, are central in the defense against mycobacteria. Mycobacterium abscessus is an opportunistic mycobacterial species able to cause chronic pulmonary infections in patients with cystic fibrosis but also soft tissue infections in immunocompetent individuals. Pathogenic isolates of M. abscessus with rough colony morphology form cord-like aggregates. In this study, we investigated the in vitro response of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy blood donors to cord-forming M. abscessus strains from cystic fibrosis patients with clinical lung infection. Microscopic examination revealed that the PBMCs produced a coarse fibrous meshwork containing DNA and histones, which surrounded the mycobacterial cords. Thus, the bacterial cord formations were entrapped by monocytes and lymphocytes aggregated onto the DNA-rich meshwork fibers. Mycobacterium abscessus strains with smooth colony morphology, which do not form cords and are readily phagocytosed, did not induce any meshwork formation in PBMCs. The chromatin meshwork may represent a defense mechanism against nondigestible invaders.
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