GL07

1:Crick Institute, London

The early immune mechanisms determining tuberculosis (TB) outcome are unclear. Laboratory mouse strains exhibit variable susceptibility to TB and can therefore be used to study mechanisms of host protection or disease progression during experimental M. tuberculosis infection. The C3HeB/FeJ mouse strain is hypersusceptible to TB and displays lung pathology and blood transcriptional signatures during established disease comparable to those from human TB patients. However, the early host determinants underpinning failed control of M. tuberculosis infection in these mice are not known. We now describe distinct early immune response kinetics and lesion organisation in the lungs of TB-susceptible and -resistant mice and highlight common signatures in our parallel analysis of airway cells from TB patients and their contacts.