Exchange of material between the extracellular medium and macrophage phagosomes containing different species of...

Pathogenic mycobacteria survive and multiply once they have infected macrophages. The aim of the present work was to determine whether the persistence of pathogenic bacteria such as M. avium inside the host cell phagosomes had any effect on the exchanges that normally occur between the extracellular medium and the macrophage vacuolar compartment. Our results indicate that fusions between phagosomes and lysosomes or/and incoming pinosomes appear to be slowed down by the presence of mycobacteria and even partially inhibited when phagosomes contain viable pathogenic mycobacteria.