Interaction of Leishmania major parasites with dendritic cells: analysis of the mechanisms regulating vesicular trafficking

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Heidrun Moll
• Subject Area: Parasitology and Biology of Tropical Infectious Disease Pathogens
• Term: from 2002 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5374114

Infections by intracellular pathogens remain a major cause of human diseases. Therefore, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions at the subcellular level. Most of the present knowledge is derived from studies of infected macrophages. Although it has recently been demonstrated that dendritic cells (DC), presumably the most potent stimulators of specific immune responses, are also able to phagocytose microbes, the fate of phagosomes in DC is largely unknown. In the proposed project, we will use the model of experimental leishmaniasis to define the properties and biogenesis of the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) in Leishmania major-infected DC and to determine the influence of host and pathogen factors on the modeling of the PV in DC. The studies will involve confocal microscopy and flow cytometric analyses of parasite-containing phagosomes in DC that had been labeled for the expression of parasite antigens and endosomal/lysosomal marker proteins. This work will provide novel comparative data on the relative role of DC in host-pathogen interactions that are of prime importance for the development of improved approaches to fight infections by intracellular microorganisms.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1131: Life Inside Cells