brain
- Editor's Pick Research ArticleInvasion of the Brain by Listeria monocytogenes Is Mediated by InlF and Host Cell Vimentin
Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterial pathogen that is capable of invading numerous host cells during infection. L. monocytogenes can cross the blood-brain barrier, leading to life-threatening meningitis. Here we show that an L. monocytogenes surface protein, InlF, is necessary for optimal colonization of the brain in mice. Furthermore, in the absence of vimentin, a cytosolic intermediate...
- Research ArticleToxoplasma gondii Requires Glycogen Phosphorylase for Balancing Amylopectin Storage and for Efficient Production of Brain Cysts
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes disease in immune-suppressed individuals, as well as a fetopathy in pregnant women who acquire infection for the first time during pregnancy. This parasite can differentiate between tachyzoites (seen in acute infection) and bradyzoites (seen in latent infection), and this differentiation is associated with disease relapse. A characteristic of bradyzoites is...
- Research ArticleZika Virus Persistently Infects and Is Basolaterally Released from Primary Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells
ZIKV persists in patients, crossing placental and neuronal barriers, damaging neurons, and causing fetal microencephaly. We found that ZIKV persistently infects brain endothelial cells that normally protect neurons from viral exposure. hBMECs are not damaged by ZIKV infection and, analogous to persistent HCV infection, ZIKV constitutively induces and evades antiviral ISG and IFN responses to continuously replicate in hBMECs. As a result...