This would explain the intermediate levels of IL-1β secretion induced

by the ΔpdpC mutant. Another example of the potent immunomodulating effect of the ΔpdpC mutant was suppression of the E. coli LPS-induced TNF-α secretion, an inflammasome-independent event. We have previously concluded that there is a close relationship between 7-Cl-O-Nec1 the mitigation of the LPS-induced inflammatory response and the subcellular localization of F. tularensis[17]. The ΔpdpC mutant adds to the understanding of this mechanism, since it, as the LVS strain, completely abrogated the TNF-α secretion. Thus, this phenotype is not related to intracellular replication, but only to the ability to disrupt the phagosomal membrane. The findings reported herein demonstrate that the relationship between bacterial intracellular location and infection-mediated

effects on host cell is not always straightforward and indicate that a key event in mediating the latter is the disruption of the phagosomal membrane and presumably the concomitant release of bacterial DNA and effector proteins of the DZNeP ic50 T6SS and possibly other secretion systems. This situation is to some degree analogous to recently published data on mycobacteria. Although Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other mycobacteria are primarily considered to be vacuolar pathogens, it has become evident that the ESX-1 secretion system effectuates limited perforation of the phagosomal membrane, although the bacterium still remains within the phagosome. Recent publications demonstrate that this perforation results in mixing of phagosomal and cytoplasmic contents and induces a cytosolic host response triggered Niclosamide by bacterial DNA [43–45]. Thus, although the ultrastructural findings on

the ΔpdpC mutant are distinct from those on mycobacteria, the bacteria-induced effects on the host cells are in both cases critically dependent on the permeabilization of the phagosomal membranes and leakage of DNA and, possibly, bacterial effectors into the cytosol. Collectively, our data show that the ΔpdpC mutant distinctly modulates the interaction between F. tularensis and the phagocytic cell, since it shows incomplete phagosomal escape, lack of intramacrophage growth, intermediate cytopathogenic effects, and marked attenuation in vivo, but almost intact modulation of the macrophage inflammatory response. The unique phenotype of the mutant provides novel information, since it demonstrates that some of the cytopathogenic effects and modulation of host cell signaling is not dependent on bacterial replication, but only requires disruption of the phagosomal membrane. Therefore, further elucidation of the exact functions of PdpC will be important in order to understand the enigmatic mechanisms behind the intracellular life style of F. tularensis. Conclusions The pathogenicity of F.