Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome

The arrest of Mycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome maturation in infected m acrophages is a phenomenon of dual significance both for the pathogenesis o f tuberculosis and as a model system to study interference of microbes with membrane trafficking and organelle biogenesis in host cells. Among other f actors, compartment-specialized regulators of vesicular trafficking and oth er parts of membrane fusion machinery are likely to play a role in these pr ocesses. Here we summarize the emerging view of mycobacterial phagosome mat uration arrest in the context of the dynamic processes of intracellular mem brane trafficking.