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Updated: Oct 9, 2025
Methods to Study Lipid Alterations in Neutrophils and the Subsequent Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps
Published on: March 29, 2017
Intracellularly Released Cholesterol from Polymer-Based Delivery Systems Alters Cellular Responses to Pneumolysin and
Tobias Kammann1,2, Jessica Hoff1,2, Ilknur Yildirim3
1Center for Sepsis Control and Care, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747 Jena, Germany.
Abstract:
Cholesterol is highly abundant within all human body cells and modulates critical cellular functions related to cellular plasticity, metabolism, and survival. The cholesterol-binding toxin pneumolysin represents an essential virulence factor of Streptococcus pneumoniae in establishing pneumonia and other pneumococcal infections. Thus, cholesterol scavenging of pneumolysin is a promising strategy to reduce S. pneumoniae induced lung damage. There may also be a second cholesterol-dependent mechanism whereby pneumococcal infection and the presence of pneumolysin increase hepatic sterol biosynthesis. Here we investigated a library of polymer particles varying in size and composition that allow for the cellular delivery of cholesterol and their effects on cell survival mechanisms following pneumolysin exposure. Intracellular delivery of cholesterol by nanocarriers composed of Eudragit E100-PLGA rescued pneumolysin-induced alterations of lipid homeostasis and enhanced cell survival irrespective of neutralization of pneumolysin.
