Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is known to modulate many aspects of its host cell during infection, including the utilisation and modulation of lipids. Some lipids are targeted for pathogen entry and for use as a carbon source during replication. However, lipid utilisation and host membrane micro domain composition is poorly understood. Quantifying lipid composition of host cell membranes during Mtb infection will provide further evidence of how the pathogen is utilising lipids for survival and replication.
Through the use of high spatial and temporal resolutions afforded by confocal and lattice-light sheet imaging, micro- and macro-scale changes in lipid order of the host cell membrane can be captured. Lipid order is quantified through the use of environmentally sensitive dyes incorporated into cellular membranes. This quantification can be further extended through time to measure dynamic changes to the host cell plasma membrane, and internal membranes which include organelles and vesicles.
These imaging modalities will capture any changes in lipid order within the membranes of infected cells. The high spatiotemporal resolution these imaging techniques permit will allowing further clarification of the pathogens modulation of the hosts membranes through the infection cycle. Crucially, this includes the plasma membrane, potentially leading to lipid-specific biomarkers of disease state, an understanding of the metabolic processes during infection and scope to uncover lipid-based therapies to infection.