Gamma interferon – key, but not sufficient for protection against TB?
In this article in Microbiology Today, Hazel Dockrell describes the role of gamma interferon in the fight against TB and predicts a complex future.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen, choosing to live within macrophages, where it inhibits antibacterial processes such as phagosome-lysosome fusion. It also expresses haemolysin-like molecules that might, like Listeria, enable its escape into the cytoplasm, although confirmed evidence of this is still lacking. It induces granuloma formation within the lungs, which can progress to causing necrosis, enabling its spread by coughing, and resulting in the destruction of lung tissue. The classic test for infection, the Mantoux skin test, measures recruitment and activation of antigen-specific T cells in a delayed-type hypersensitivity test. This focus on cell-mediated immunity has led to a major interest in the role of gamma interferon.
Tags: Bacteria, Biology, Health, Immunology, Medicine, Microbiology, Science, Tuberculosis
