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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Listeria monocytogenes Infection of the Brain
Published on: October 2, 2018
Necrotic cell death in human amniotic cells infected by Listeria monocytogenes
M G Ammendolia1, F Superti, L Bertuccini
1Department of Technology and Health, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy. maria.ammendolia@iss.it
Abstract:
Listeria monocytogenes can cause a placental-foetal infection that results in spontaneous abortion, premature labour, stillbirth, or neonatal sepsis and meningitis. Bacteria cross the maternofoetal barrier at the villous syncytiotrophoblast level and subsequently spread from the placenta to the fetus. L. monocytogenes is able to induce different kinds of death in a variety of cells. Murine hepatocytes, murine T and human B lymphocytes, and murine dendritic cells die by apoptosis, whereas bacterial infection of murine and human macrophages leads mainly to necrotic cell death. As we previously described the efficient infection and growth of L. monocytogenes in a human amniotic cell line, we investigated the fate of these cells in order to analyse the mode of cell death. Our results provide biochemical and morphological evidence of necrotic death induced by L. monocytogenes infection.
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