Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is the etiologic agent of Johne's disease, a chronic granulomatous enteritis in ruminants. ATP has been reported to induce cell death of macrophages and killing of Mycobacterium species in human and murine macrophages. In this study we investigated the short-term effect of ATP on the viability of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infected bovine mononu...

Circulating neutrophils and monocytes form the first line of cellular defense against invading bacteria. Here, we describe a novel and specific mechanism of disabling and eliminating phagocytes by Staphylococcus aureus. Staphopain B (SspB) selectively cleaved CD11b on phagocytes, which rapidly acquired features of cell death. SspB-treated phagocytes expressed phosphatidylserine as well as annex...

The in vitro differentiation of homogeneous populations of monocyte-like cells from the unstimulated mouse peritoneal cavity is described. Under the conditions employed, a progressive increase in cell size occurs without significant cell division. This process is characterized morphologically by the accumulation of phase-dense and neutral red-positive granules, mitochondria, and lipid droplets....

The research presented in this issue finds historical resonance in a classical scientific debate. Russian biologist Ilya Metchnikoff [1, 2] was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 for the development of the phagocyte theory, the central tenet of which was that the ‘swallowing and digestion’ of bacteria by circulating ‘white corpuscles’ (neutrophils and macrophages), enhanced by prior opsonization, ...

Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) biofilms are implicated in endocarditis, urinary tract infections, and biliary infections. Coupled with E. internalization into host cells, this opportunistic pathogen poses great challenges to conventional antibiotic therapy. The inability of ampicillin (Amp) eradicate bacteria hidden intracellular niches greatly reduces its efficacy against complicated To e...