Présentation
Across different species of mycobacteria, phenolic glycolipids (PGL) share a common lipid core and phenol ring that are embedded in the cell envelope, and differ in the saccharidic portion that is exposed on the surface of mycobacteria. Mycobacterium leprae produces PGL-1, whose trisaccharidic portion binds to complement receptor 3 (CR3) to improve macrophage invasion and alter NF-κb signalling and downstream TNF response to infection. Production of structural analogue PGL-TB by M. tuberculosis was reported to reduce inflammatory cytokine production by macrophages, and correlates with increased virulence in infected hosts. In collaboration with the teams of C. Guilhot (IPBS, Toulouse) and N. Winter (INRA, Tours), we study the mechanisms employed by these PGL to suppress innate host defenses.
