Speaker:
Title:
Investigating Host Efferocytosis Mechanisms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection
Abstract:
Tuberculosis is a leading cause of infectious disease mortality. Lung macrophage death is prominent in tuberculosis, but how the clearance of these dying cells, through a form of phagocytosis called
efferocytosis, influences the course of disease is poorly understood. Here we present preliminary data that validate an in vitro system for studying efferocytosis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of macrophages. We have begun to probe the role of a particular family of efferocytosis-mediating receptors, the Tyro3/Axl/Mer (TAM) receptors, in this infection model.