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Updated: May 27, 2026

Visualization of Macrophage Lytic Cell Death During Mycobacterial Infection in Zebrafish Embryos via Intravital Microscopy
Published on: January 9, 2019
Cell death and infection: a double-edged sword for host and pathogen survival
Hiroshi Ashida1, Hitomi Mimuro, Michinaga Ogawa
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, International Research Center for Infectious Disease, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
Abstract:
Host cell death is an intrinsic immune defense mechanism in response to microbial infection. However, bacterial pathogens use many strategies to manipulate the host cell death and survival pathways to enhance their replication and survival. This manipulation is quite intricate, with pathogens often suppressing cell death to allow replication and then promoting it for dissemination. Frequently, these effects are exerted through modulation of the mitochondrial pro-death, NF-κB-dependent pro-survival, and inflammasome-dependent host cell death pathways during infection. Understanding the molecular details by which bacterial pathogens manipulate cell death pathways will provide insight into new therapeutic approaches to control infection.
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