Proteome Analysis of Corynebacterium diphtheriae-Macrophage Interaction

Contact of Corynebacterium diphtheriae with macrophages induces adaptations on both bacterial and cellular sides. The study presented here was aiming to shed light on the simultaneous intracellular adaptation of the bacteria and changes in the proteome of the phagocytes in response to the internalization of C. diphtheriae. Quantitative proteome analyses were carried out at different time points of an infection assay and data were analyzed by different bioinformatic approaches. Several C. diphtheriae proteins, which were not observed or connected with pathogenicity before, were differentially expressed, as well as key macrophage components of the phagolysosome. Overall, bacteria responded to phagocytosis by changes in DNA repair, transcription, and cell wall synthesis proteins, while macrophages showed changes in components of the innate immune system.