Comparative analysis of the early transcriptome of Brucella abortus – Infected monocyte-derived macrophages from cattle naturally resistant or susceptible to brucellosis

Brucellosis is a worldwide zoonotic infectious disease that has a significant economic impact on animal production and human public health. We characterized the gene expression profile of B. abortus-infected monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from naïve cattle naturally resistant (R) or susceptible (S) to brucellosis using a cDNA microarray technology. Our data indicate that (1) B. abortus induced a slightly increased genome activation in R MDMs and a down-regulated transcriptome in S MDMs, during the onset of infection, (2) R MDMs had the ability to mount a type 1 immune response against B. abortus infection which was impaired in S cells, and (3) the host cell activity was not altered after 12 h post-B. abortus infection in R MDMs while the cell cycle was largely arrested in infected S MDMs at 12 h p.i. These results contribute to an improved understanding of how host responses may be manipulated to prevent infection by brucellae.