Microbial strategies for intracellular survival.

Not only viruses but also certain bacteria, fungi as well as protozoa are able to reside and multiply within host cells; some of these microorganisms are facultative, others obligate intracellular hosts. They differ from each other in their mode of entry and in their strategies to survive intracellularly. Some remain in the phagocytic vacuole where they either block the fusion of lysosomes or resist the attack of the acidic milieu as well as the enzymatic digestion and multiply. Others escape from the vacuole to the cytoplasm where they travel around. This implies that chemotherapy has to respect these various intracellular life cycles. Therefore an antibiotic treatment can only be effective when the drug arrives in an active form at the special site of microbial residence.