Figure 5.

Lysosomal heterogeneity influencing intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) trafficking. (A) Heterogeneity in lysosomal targeting of pathogens in the host cells could be driven by pre-existing heterogeneity of host cells where some cells intrinsically have more lysosomes and are more efficient in trafficking Mtb (green) to lysosomes (red), or it could also be driven by pathogen diversity, where some pathogens cells are less capable of resisting lysosomal delivery. (B) Other model proposes the idea of induced heterogeneity where post-infection the heterogeneity is induced in the host and pathogen e.g. lysosomal levels and lysosomal delivery of Mtb in cells becomes heterogeneous. Existing literature suggests that these events are not mutually exclusive and pre-existing heterogeneity in the pathogen cells can induce diversity in the host cell response. Similarly, heterogeneity of the host cells can generate diversity in the pathogens upon infection.