Agent-based model indicates chemoattractant signaling caused by Mycobacterium avium biofilms in the lung airway increases bacterial loads by spatially diverting macrophages.
Tuberculosis (Edinb)
; 138: 102300, 2023 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36621288
ABSTRACT
Incidence and prevalence of MAC infections are increasing globally, and reinfection is common. Thus, MAC infections present a significant public health challenge. We quantify the impact of MAC biofilms and repeated exposure on infection progression using a computational model of MAC infection in lung airways. MAC biofilms aid epithelial cell invasion, cause premature macrophage apoptosis, and limit antibiotic efficacy. In this computational work we develop an agent-based model that incorporates the interactions between bacteria, biofilm, and immune cells. In this computational model, we perform virtual knockouts to quantify the effects of the biofilm sources (deposited with bacteria vs. formed in the airway), and their impacts on macrophages (inducing apoptosis and slowing phagocytosis). We also quantify the effects of repeated bacterial exposures to assess their impact on infection progression. Our simulations show that chemoattractants released by biofilm-induced apoptosis bias macrophage chemotaxis towards pockets of infected and apoptosed macrophages. This bias results in fewer macrophages finding extracellular bacteria, allowing the extracellular planktonic bacteria to replicate freely. These spatial macrophage trends are further exacerbated with repeated deposition of bacteria. Our model indicates that interventions to abrogate macrophages' apoptotic responses to bacterial biofilms and/or reduce frequency of patient exposure to bacteria will lower bacterial load, and likely overall risk of infection.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Mycobacterium avium
/
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Tuberculosis (Edinb)
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos