noninfected cells. Results are means plus standard deviation for all 5 donors. LM: L. monocytogenes EGDe, SA: S. aureus, SP: S. pneumoniae. Selleck Sepantronium Discussion Using whole-genome based microarray analysis we were able to detect the transcriptional upregulation

or repression of a robust minimal set of genes in infected cells compared to untreated controls even within the short interval of one hour. Despite donor-specific gene variations and despite varying invasion strategies of the studied bacteria we identified a common program of gene expression induced by all three bacterial pathogens. Linsitinib clinical trial Remarkably, global comparison of the expression profiles already hinted at gross similarities by the infection among the pathogens (Figure 1, Tables 1, 2). For example, the clustering suggested that the global response of LM and SA are more similar to each other while SP infection generates a different and more subdued response pointing to similarities in the virulence of both LM XMU-MP-1 datasheet and SA. One assumption may be that they generate similar responses because of their intracellular nature. However after one hour of infection we observed only a

few internalized bacteria (data not shown) suggesting that secreted bacterial factors, a common feature between L. monocytogenes and S. aureus are important inducers of the response observed. LM expresses a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) listeriolysin, that is crucial for gaining entry to the cytosol while SA encodes for several haemolysins and cytolysins e.g. the two secretory haemolysins α and β [12]. SP, on the other hand, are generally encapsulated bacteria with the capsule effectively preventing ingestion of the bacteria by the monocyte. This nearly creates a physical barrier between the bacteria and the host cell and could underlie the observations on host gene expression made

here. The similarity between pneumococcal and LM-induced gene expression could be due to the cellular response to CDC-type toxins produced by these bacteria [12]. Nevertheless, there were clear differences in the number of detectable differentially regulated genes as well, with fewer genes being differentially expressed on infection with SP. This might point to an as yet unknown mechanism for subduing the host response by SP or it might indicate the improved immune evasion ability of this particular capsular SP strain. Remarkably, hallmark inflammatory cytokines, e.g. TNF and IL1 were not part of the common response of the monocytes. However, the most prominent feature of the common genes set is the upregulation of interleukin 23A (IL23, p19) mRNA. Thus it seems that in naive human monocytes gram-positive bacteria induce the transcription of IL23 as the first major systemic proinflammatory cytokine, reminiscent of the effects of Mycobacteria and Salmonellae [13, 14].