Mycobacterium avium Infection of Multinucleated Giant Cells Reveals Association of Bacterial Survival to Autophagy and Cholesterol Utilization

Figure 5

Characteristics of intracellular M. avium in MGCs. (a) Uninfected MGC with three nuclei surrounded by lipid droplets. (b) Cytosolic M. avium inside MGCs at 1 h.p.i. (c) M. avium bacterium in a vacuole at 1 h.p.i in MGCs. (d) Vacuole containing multiple M. avium 72 h.p.i. inside MGCs. (e) Intracellular M. avium in autophagosome in MGC at 1 h.p.i. (f) 24 h.p.i., extracellular M. avium from an MGC. Blue arrows: host lipid droplets, black arrows: bacteria, green arrows: intrabacterial lipid inclusions, white arrows: nuclei, and orange arrows: autophagosomes.

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