Brucella control of dendritic cell maturation is dependent on the TIR-containing protein Btp1

Suzana P Salcedo (1) , María Ines Marchesini (2) , Hugues Lelouard (1) , Emilie Fugier (1) , Gilles Jolly (1) , Stephanie Balor (1) , Alexandre Muller (1) , Nicolas Lapaque (1) , Olivier Demaria (1) , Lena Alexopoulou (1) , Diego J Comerci (2, 3) , Rodolfo A Ugalde (2, 3) , Philippe Pierre (1) , Jean-Pierre Gorvel (1)

1 CIML - Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille - Luminy
2 IIB-INTECH - Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas [San Martín]
3 INTI - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial

Brucella is an intracellular pathogen able to persist for long periods of time within the host and establish a chronic disease. We show that soon after Brucella inoculation in intestinal loops, dendritic cells from ileal Peyer's patches become infected and constitute a cell target for this pathogen. In vitro, we found that Brucella replicates within dendritic cells and hinders their functional activation. In addition, we identified a new Brucella protein Btp1, which down-modulates maturation of infected dendritic cells by interfering with the TLR2 signaling pathway. These results show that intracellular Brucella is able to control dendritic cell function, which may have important consequences in the development of chronic brucellosis.

Domaines: Immunologie

Suzana P Salcedo, María Ines Marchesini, Hugues Lelouard, Emilie Fugier, Gilles Jolly, et al.. Brucella control of dendritic cell maturation is dependent on the TIR-containing protein Btp1. PLoS Pathogens, 2008, 4 (2), pp.e21. ⟨10.1371/journal.ppat.0040021⟩. ⟨hal-00294210⟩