Zn Intoxication of Mycobacterium marinum during Dictyostelium discoideum Infection Is Counteracted by Induction of the Pathogen Zn Exporter CtpC.

Macrophages use diverse strategies to restrict intracellular pathogens, including either depriving the bacteria of (micro)nutrients such as transition metals or intoxicating them via metal accumulation. Little is known about the chemical warfare between , a close relative of (Mtb), and its hosts. We use the professional phagocyte to investigate the role of Zn during infection.

Localization of all four ZnT zinc transporters in and impact of ZntA and ZntB knockout on bacteria killing.

Professional phagocytes have developed an extensive repertoire of autonomous immunity strategies to ensure killing of bacteria. Besides phagosome acidification and the generation of reactive oxygen species, deprivation of nutrients and the lumenal accumulation of toxic metals are essential to kill ingested bacteria or inhibit the growth of intracellular pathogens. Here, we used the soil amoeba , a professional phagocyte that digests bacteria for nutritional purposes, to decipher the role of zinc poisoning during phagocytosis of nonpathogenic bacteria and visualize the temporal and spatial dynamics of compartmentalized, free zinc using fluorescent probes.