Transcriptomic Dynamics of Human Macrophage Response to Leishmania major infection

Leishmania (L.) are obligated intracellular protozoan parasites that develop electively in macrophages. These cells that are acting as a safe shelter for the pathogens but also as their ultimate killer, making them the alpha and the omega during leishmaniasis diseases. Macrophages are able to secrete a remarkably diverse set of regulators known to influence the physiological functions and differentiation of neighboring cells to trigger an adaptive immune response of protective Th1-type cells, whereas parasites have developed a wide range of mechanisms to circumvent the hosts immune responses. Most of our understanding of this host-parasite conflict, in the context of macrophage invasion by L. major metacyclic promastigotes, has been gleaned from studies investigating the macrophage responses at late and unique time points after infection.

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