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  • 1
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) induce so-called attaching and effacing lesions that enable the tight adherence of these pathogens to the gut epithelium. All of the genes necessary for this process are present in the locus of enterocyte effacement, which encodes a type III secretion system, the secreted Esp proteins and the surface protein intimin. In this study we sequenced the espA gene of STEC, generated and characterized a corresponding deletion mutant and raised EspA-specific monoclonal antibodies to analyse the functional role of this protein during infection. EspA was detected in often filament-like structures decorating all bacteria that had attached to HeLa cells. These appendages were especially prominent on bacteria that had not yet induced the formation of actin pedestals, indicating that they mediate the initial contact of STEC to their target cells. Consistently, a deletion of the espA gene completely abolished the capacity of such STEC mutants to bind to HeLa cells and to induce actin rearrangements. Surface appendages similar to those described in this study are also formed by Pseudomonas syringae and may represent a structural element common to many bacterial pathogens that deliver proteins into their target cells via a type III secretion system.
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Listeriolysin O (LLO) binds to cholesterol-containing membranes in which it oligomerizes to form pores. Preincubation of the toxin with cholesterol is known to inhibit haemolysis, whereas the oxidized form of cholesterol has no inhibitory effect. Using immunoblot analyses and flow cytometry we demonstrate that preincubation with cholesterol does not influence binding of the listeriolysin–cholesterol complex to red blood cells, eukaryotic cells or artificial membranes. Lytic activity of membrane-bound LLO inactivated by cholesterol can be restored by enzymatic treatment with cholesterol oxidase. To determine the step at which cholesterol inhibits lytic activity, we looked for pore formation using electron microscopy. Pores formed by purified listeriolysin could be directly visualized using erythrocyte ghosts. This property was lost upon incubation of the toxin with cholesterol. Quantitative analysis strongly suggest that inhibition of lysis by cholesterol is not due to decreased binding of listeriolysin to target membranes, but rather to an interference with a subsequent step leading to polymerization of the toxin.
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  • 3
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: The gene for a novel, high molecular weight protein secreted by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has been cloned, sequenced and characterized with respect to its activity. This gene, designated pssA, is localized on the large plasmid that also harbours the STEC haemolysin operon. Sequencing of a region comprising 10 630 nt revealed that the sequences flanking the pssA gene are composed of several remnants of different insertion elements. The PssA protein is produced as a 142 kDa precursor molecule that, after N- and C-terminal processing, is released into the culture supernatant as a mature polypeptide of approximately 104 kDa. The primary sequence of PssA is highly related to a family of autonomously transported putative virulence factors from different Gram-negative pathogens, which includes the Tsh protein of an avian-pathogenic E. coli strain, the SepA protein from Shigella flexneri and the EspC protein from enteropathogenic E. coli. A common motif present in all four proteins is reminiscent of the catalytic centre of certain serine proteases. PssA (protease secreted by STEC) indeed shows serine protease activity in a casein-based assay and is moreover cytotoxic for Vero cells. This activity of PssA and probably of other proteins of the Tsh family may be of functional importance during infection of the mucosal cell layer by the bacterial pathogen.
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  • 4
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and some strains of Hafnia alvei are capable of inducing attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions, characterized by tight apposition of the bacteria to the eukaryotic membrane and formation of actin-based pedestals. In this study, we report on the identification of EspE, a novel secreted 80 kDa protein of A/E bacteria. During infection, EspE is delivered into the cytoplasm of the infected host cell, where it is detected as a higher-molecular-weight form of 90 kDa. We present evidence that translocated EspE becomes tyrosine phosphorylated and that this modified form of EspE may be identical to Hp90, the putative receptor of EPEC intimin. Bacteria of the classic enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) serotype O157:H7 fail to induce a tyrosine phosphorylation of EspE and differ in this respect from other A/E bacteria. Translocated EspE, whether tyrosine phosphorylated or not, becomes incorporated into the bacteria-induced cytoskeletal structures, where it normally colocalizes with filamentous actin. EPEC are also able to induce ‘pseudopods’, elongated pedestals that have recently been implicated in a novel kind of actin-based motility. EspE is enriched at the tip of these structures, suggesting its involvement in the process of actin dynamics, which is triggered during the attaching and effacing process.
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  • 5
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Listeria monocytogenes causes rhombencephalitis in humans and animals and also affects the fetus in utero, causing disseminated sepsis. In both instances, the infection occurs by the crossing of endothelial cells lining a physiological barrier, the blood–brain barrier or the transplacental barrier. In this study, the ability of L. monocytogenes wild-type EGD to invade human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was evaluated using wild-type bacteria and isogenic Listeria mutants. Here, we show that invasion of HUVECs by L. monocytogenes is dependent on the expression of the internalin B gene product. This was demonstrated in several ways. First, L. monocytogenes strains lacking the inlB gene did not invade HUVECs. Secondly, avid invasion was obtained when a strain deleted for inlAB was complemented with a plasmid harbouring inlB only, whereas strains expressing inlA did not enter HUVECs. Thirdly, entry of wild-type EGD could be blocked effectively with antibodies to InlB. Fourthly, cell binding assays and flow cytometry with HUVECs showed binding of purified InlB, but not InlA, suggesting a tropism of InlB for this cell type. Finally, physical association of purified native InlB with the surface of non-invasive mutants dramatically increased their ability to invade HUVECs. In laser-scanning confocal microscopy, binding of InlB was observed as focal and localized patches on the cell surface of HUVECs. Qualitative examination of the entry process by scanning electron microscopy revealed that both wild-type EGD and a recombinant strain overexpressing only InlB enter HUVECs in a similar fashion. The entry process was polarized, involved single bacteria and occurred over the entire surface of endothelial cells.
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  • 6
    ISSN: 1365-2958
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Infection of a murine-spleen dendritic cell line by Listeria monocytogenes was found to induce cell death through apoptosis. To characterize the bacterial product(s) involved in induction of apoptosis, dendritic cells were infected with the L. monocytogenes EGD strain and several isogenic mutants deficient in the production of individual listerial virulence factors. The ability to induce cellular apoptosis was retained by all mutants tested, except the prfA and Δhly mutants, both of which are unable to produce listeriolysin. Apoptosis was also induced by purified listeriolysin suggesting that this protein directly induces apoptosis. Purified recombinant listeriolysins rendered either weakly haemolytic by a C-484 to S mutation, or non-haemolytic by a W-491 to A mutation exhibited little or no capacity to induce apoptosis, indicating that both activities are associated within the same protein region. Treatment with purified listeriolysin or L. monocytogenes infection also triggers apoptosis in explanted bone-marrow dendritic cells. Thus invasion of dendritic cells by L. monocytogenes, which results in cell death, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of listerial infections by impairing immune responses, hindering bacterial clearance and promoting spread of the infection.
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  • 7
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd
    FEMS immunology and medical microbiology 27 (2000), S. 0 
    ISSN: 1574-695X
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: The efficacious delivery of eukaryotic expression plasmids to inductive cells of the immune system constitutes a key prerequisite for the generation of effective DNA vaccines. Here, we have explored the use of bacteria as vehicles to orally deliver expression plasmids. Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium aroA harbouring eukaryotic expression plasmids that encoded virulence factors of Listeria monocytogenes were administered orally to BALB/c mice. Strong cytotoxic and helper T cell responses as well as antibody production were elicited even after a single administration. Mice immunised four times with Salmonella that carried a eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding the secretory listerial protein listeriolysin were protected against a subsequent lethal challenge with this pathogen. A single dose was already partially protective. The efficiency of this vaccination procedure was due to transfer of the expression plasmid from the bacterial carrier to the mammalian host. Evidence for such an event could be obtained in vivo and in vitro. Expression of the desired antigen in various lymphoid tissues was already detectable 1 day after administration of the DNA vaccine and persisted for at least 1 month in spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes. Induction of cytotoxic and helper T cell responses was observed in all mouse strains tested including outbred strains whereas antibodies were mainly detected in BALB/c. Furthermore, we could show that immunogenicity could be improved by increasing the invasiveness of the bacterial carrier.
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  • 8
    ISSN: 1574-6968
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: In this study, we analyzed whether the actin-based motility of intracellular Listeria monocytogenes is controlled by the small GTP-binding proteins of the Rho- and Ras-subfamilies. These signalling proteins are key regulatory elements in the control of actin dynamics and their activity is essential for the maintenance of most cellular microfilament structures. We used the Clostridium difficile toxins TcdB-10463 and TcdB-1470 to specifically inactivate these GTP-binding proteins. Treatment of eukaryotic cells with either of these toxins led to a dramatic breakdown of the normal actin cytoskeleton, but did not abrogate the invasion of epithelial cells by L. monocytogenes and had no effect on the actin-based motility of this bacterial parasite. Our data indicate that intracellular Listeria reorganize the actin cytoskeleton in a way that circumvents the control mechanisms mediated by the members of the Rho- and Ras-subfamilies that can be inactivated by the TcdB-10463 and TcdB-1470 toxins.
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  • 9
    ISSN: 1574-6968
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Attaching and effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) are extracellular pathogens that induce the formation of actin-rich structures at their sites of attachment to eukaryotic host cells. We analysed whether small GTP-binding proteins of the Rho- and Ras-subfamilies, which control the cellular actin system, are essential for these bacterial-induced microfilament reorganizations. For this purpose we specifically inactivated them using the Clostridium difficile toxins TcdB-10463 and TcdB-1470. Such treatment led to a dramatic breakdown of the normal actin cytoskeleton, but did not abrogate the bacterial-induced actin rearrangements. Our data therefore indicate that the microfilament reorganizations induced by AEEC are independent of those small GTP-binding proteins that under normal conditions control the dynamics and maintenance of the actin cytoskeleton.
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  • 10
    ISSN: 1574-6968
    Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: We have investigated the capacity of a well-defined Escherichia coli fimB strain, AAEC350 (a derivative of MG1655), to express type 1 fimbriae under various growth conditions. The expression of type 1 fimbriae is phase-variable due to the inversion of a 314-bp DNA segment. Two tyrosine recombinases, FimB and FimE, mediate the inversion of the phase switch. FimB can carry out recombination in both directions, whereas the current evidence suggests that FimE-catalyzed switching is on-to-off only. We show here that AAEC350 is in fact capable of off-to-on phase switching and type 1 fimbrial expression under aerobic static growth conditions. The phase switching is mediated by FimE, and allows emerging fimbriate AAEC350 to outgrow their non-fimbriate counterparts by pellicle formation. Following inversion of the phase switch, this element can remain phase-locked in the on orientation due to integration of insertion sequence elements, viz. IS1 or IS5, at various positions in either the fimE gene or the phase switch.
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