About
L. pneumophila -host interactions have been studied in several animal models, but they all have their weaknesses and except the guinea pig model that is rarely used, they do not well recall human infection. Thus, we have recently developed a new animal model for L. pneumophila, the infection of zebrafish larvae. In this model macrophages are the first line of defence, with neutrophils cooperating to eradicate L. pneumophila. Like in humans, the infection is dependent on the immune status of zebrafish larvae and MyD88 is not essential for the immune response, a key point of distinction to mice . The zebrafish model recapitulates human infection and paves now the way for analyses of how this bacterium modulates host cell function in vivo.
