Skip to content
PaperFren

Host–pathogen

Do ‘single-cell’ Mtb preps change macrophage results?

Mittal E, Roth AT, Seth A, et al. · eLife · 2023

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

Gentle sonication made Mtb hyperinflammatory (TLR2-high IL-1β/TNF) yet still replicative in macrophages, while filtering blunted inflammation and attenuated intracellular survival — so prep method can rewrite host–pathogen readouts.

Study at a glance

Design
Animal / in-vitro — In-vitro Mtb single-cell prep (sonication vs 5 μm filter vs spin) infecting mouse BMDMs; RNA-seq, cytokines, CFU, TEM; literature survey of 119 papers
N
N=5 · RNA-seq n=5 BMDM infections per condition (so/sp vs 5μmF, MOI 5, 72 h); plus TEM/CFU and 119-paper methods survey
Population
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv and others) and mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, including Tlr2−/−
Outcome
Envelope integrity, macrophage inflammatory gene expression/cytokines, and intracellular Mtb survival

Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.

Key findings

Both sonication and filtering damaged the envelope. Sonicated bacilli drove higher TLR2-dependent transcription and IL-1β/TNF-α but replicated normally; filtered Mtb were hypo-inflammatory and attenuated. PDIM’s apparent anti-inflammatory effect depended on prep method. Only 39.5% of 119 papers reported how they made single-cell suspensions.

Methodology

Compared routine disaggregation (sonication, 5 μm filtering, spinning) for envelope damage (TEM), infected mouse BMDMs (RNA-seq n=5, cytokines, CFU), tested Tlr2−/− BMDMs, and surveyed how 119 papers reported single-cell methods.

Limitations

This is mouse BMDM work in vitro, not a clinical TB trial; other labs’ strains, detergents, or human macrophages may differ, and no single ‘correct’ prep is proven for all questions.

How this study connects

Role on claims

Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.

Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.

Related papers in this topic

Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.