嗜肺军团菌毒力基因、致病性及实验诊断研究进展

嗜肺军团菌是引起军团菌肺炎的重要病原体,关于军团菌感染的致病机制目前尚不十分清楚。近来研究发现,军团菌的致病性与其毒力因子和铁代谢等相关,本文对嗜肺军团菌的毒力因子及其作用。致病机制和实验室诊断方法研究进展作一综述。     

嗜肺军团菌毒力岛分子分型及其致病性研究进展

嗜肺军团菌是引起社区获得性和医院内感染性肺炎的重要病原体,中央空调冷凝塔水系统是引发军团菌病的重要传染源,在国内外时有暴发流行,病死率较高。嗜肺军团菌的致病性与其毒力岛基因组密切相关。简要概述了嗜肺军团菌毒力岛、分子分型及其致病性。     

核酸疫苗研究进展

本文就核酸疫苗的定义、有效性、优越性及安全性方面的研究作了较为详细的综述并对其发展方向作了探讨。     

嗜肺军团菌简易鞭毛染色法及在不同培养基上鞭毛的生长观察

本文报道了一种较为简易、快速的嗜肺军团菌 Legionella pneumophila 鞭毛染色法,并探讨了嗜肺军团菌在两种培养基(BCYE、NYE)上鞭毛的生长情况。实验结果提示这种鞭毛染色法有助于军团病的病原学诊断。     

嗜肺军团菌II型分泌系统及其底物的研究进展

嗜肺军团菌(Legionella pneumophila,L. pneumophila)是研究病原菌-宿主相互作用的重要模式菌株之一,其独特的分泌系统及底物效应蛋白的结构与功能是病原微生物领域的研究热点。II型分泌系统(type II secretion system,T2SS)对促进细菌在环境和人类宿主中的生存至关重要。嗜肺军团菌Legionella secretion pathway (Lsp)系统是革兰氏阴性病原菌中一个典型的T2SS。本文综述了L. pneumophila的T2SS及其底物效应蛋白的研究进展,重点介绍其结构与功能,为深入了解革兰氏阴性病原菌的T2SS功能和作用机制提供参考。     

嗜肺军团菌调控宿主非折叠蛋白反应的研究进展

内质网作为细胞内重要的细胞器之一,参与胞内蛋白的成熟及转运,其稳态与细胞的存活及免疫反应密切相关.非折叠蛋白反应是维持内质网稳态的重要机制之一,参与细胞的天然免疫反应,在宿主细胞抵抗病原体入侵中具有重要作用.嗜肺军团菌是一种革兰氏阴性致病菌,能够感染人体肺泡巨噬细胞引起严重肺炎,即军团菌病.在入侵宿主细胞后,嗜肺军团菌通过其Ⅳ型分泌系统将330多个效应蛋白转运至宿主细胞中,干扰宿主细胞的多种细胞进程,以形成其生存和复制所需的场所——含嗜肺军团菌囊泡(Legionella-containing vacuole, LCV).LCV的形成与宿主细胞的内质网密切相关.本文主要从嗜肺军团菌的致病机制、细胞非折叠蛋白反应及其与病原体的关系、军团菌对宿主细胞的非折叠蛋白反应的调控等方面进行综述,以期为揭示病原体与内质网应激之间的关系提供参考.     

鱼用核酸疫苗研究进展

近几十年,传染性疾病的暴发给世界鱼类与贝类养殖造成约10%的产量损失。防治寄生虫和传染性病原的化学药剂和抗生素的使用往往会导致药物残留和耐药性的产生,甚至污染水环境;对于病毒病目前尚无有效的防治药物,免疫接种是预防水产动物疾病发生的有效途径。       

广东地区嗜肺军团菌的扩增片段长度多态性分析

【目的】了解广东部分地区2002~2007年环境水中嗜肺军团菌的基因型及遗传学关系。【方法】参考欧洲军团菌感染工作组（the European Working Group for Legionella Infections, EWGLI）制定的分型草案（1.2版）,采用PstⅠ酶对我室保存的2株标准菌株及41株不同时间、不同地点的嗜肺军团菌环境分离株进行扩增片段长度多态性（amplified fragment length polymorphism, AFLP）分析,电泳图谱与EWGLI进行比对。【结果】AFLP分型结果稳定,重复性好;43株嗜肺军团菌,其不同来源菌株呈现多态性分布,经AFLP分析得到33个基因型,辨别力指数为99.79%,其中Kingmed AFLP 011为优势基因型。按Dice系数≥0.8,可分为18个群,Kingmed AFLP D群为优势群,占总菌株数的34.88%。由电泳图谱的相似性,初步推断存在EWGLI 001 Lugano型、002 Lugano、012 Rome、013 London、014 London型、015 Dresden型、021 Lyon等7个基因型,以及多个未报道的新基因型。【结论】广东地区嗜肺军团菌的基因型十分丰富,AFLP技术是其分子流行病学研究的有效手段。     

嗜肺军团菌生物膜形成及其影响因素

嗜肺军团菌在自然环境和人工供水系统中普遍存在,能够在阿米巴原虫和其他原生动物体内繁殖,所引起的军团菌病主要表现为严重的呼吸系统疾病。但在自然环境中,嗜肺军团菌的生存和繁殖受到多菌种生物膜形成和繁殖的影响,一些军团菌病的暴发与生物膜的存在相关。因此,阻止自然环境和人工水系统中生物膜的形成显然已成为降低水污染的有效策略之一。根据近年来的报道分别对影响嗜肺军团菌生物膜形成的生化因子和嗜肺军团菌的毒力因子,以及其他生物物种在嗜肺军团菌生物膜形成过程中所起的不同作用等进行综述。     

Localization of Legionella bacteria within ribosome-studded phagosomes is not restricted to Legionella pneumophila

In this report, we investigate the intracellular fate of selected members of the genus Legionella within the monocytic cell line Mono Mac 6 cells. By means of electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry, we could show that Legionella pneumophila as well as Legionella longbeachae are able to induce ribosome-studded phagosomes which associate with the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), whereas Legionella micdadei remains to be located within smooth phagosomes but also shows signs of RER association. In addition, we could demonstrate a remarkable correlation between the phagosome type and the morphological phenotype of intracellular bacteria: within ribosome-studded phagosomes, bacteria generally lacked the outer coat of low electron density whereas bacteria within the smooth phagosomes still possessed this outer coat. The virulence factors responsible for inhibition of phagosome maturation and their distribution within the genus Legionella as well as the biological significance of the morphological difference of bacteria within smooth and ER-associated phagosomes remain to be investigated.     

Twitching motility in Legionella pneumophila

Twitching motility is a form of bacterial translocation over solid or semi-solid surfaces mediated by the extension, tethering, and subsequent retraction of type IV pili. These pili are also known to be involved in virulence, biofilm formation, formation of fruiting bodies, horizontal gene transfer, and protein secretion. We have characterized the presence of twitching motility on agar plates in Legionella pneumophila , the etiological agent of Legionnaires' disease. By examining twitching motility zones, we have demonstrated that twitching motility was dependent on agar thickness/concentration, the chemical composition of the media, the presence of charcoal and cysteine, proximity to other bacteria, and temperature. A knockout mutant of the pilus subunit, pilE , exhibited a total loss of twitching motility at 37 °C, but not at 27 °C, suggesting either the existence of a compensating pilus subunit or of another twitching motility system in this organism.     

Structure-function analysis of the C-terminus of IcmT of Legionella pneumophila in pore formation-mediated egress from macrophages

We have recently shown an essential role of the 32 amino acids C-terminus domain of IcmT of Legionella pneumophila in bacterial egress from macrophages. Mutants expressing an IcmT protein with a truncation in the C-terminus, replicate intracellularly but are defective in pore formation-mediated egress. The C-terminus domain of IcmT is the only hydrophilic domain of IcmT that is predicted to be in the cytoplasm while the rest of the protein is in the cytoplasmic membrane. In order to characterize the structure-function of the C-terminus of IcmT in the pore-forming activity and bacterial egress, we constructed 10 icmT missense mutant alleles differing by a single amino acid in the C-terminus of icmT and introduced them into the null icmT mutant. The H58Q, W69L, R71I, R79I and R86I icmT mutant alleles showed significantly lower pore-forming activity as measured by hemolysis of sRBC. The Y59S, R68L and S77L mutant alleles showed significantly lower cytopathogenicity to U937 macrophages. All 10 mutant alleles enabled the icmT null mutant to replicate intracellularly as efficiently as icmT null mutant harboring the wild-type icmT. Seven of the icmT alleles enabled the icmT null mutant to egress from infected macrophages as efficiently as icmT null mutant harboring the wild-type icmT. The other 3 substitutions conferred a partial defect in hemolysis and two of them also conferred a defect in egress from macrophages. Thus, two amino acid residues in the C-terminus of IcmT are required for both pore formation and bacterial egress. However, certain single amino acid substitutions in the C-terminus reduce the pore-forming activity when tested in vitro, but may or may not have a detectable effect on egress of L. pneumophila from U937 macrophages.     

广州地区嗜肺军团菌环境分离株的基因序列分型分析

摘要:【目的】研究广州市嗜肺军团菌的基因特征,对来自不同水域环境的嗜肺军团菌进行分子分型研究。【方法】选择嗜肺军团菌的7个基因flaA、asd、mip、pilE、mompS、proA和neuA 作为目的基因, 对在2006-2009年间广州地区分离的44株嗜肺军团菌进行PCR扩增和测序,并将核苷酸序列上传至欧洲军团菌病感染工作组（EWGLI）数据库进行比对,得到基因型别（Sequence type, ST）,对结果进行基因序列分型（Sequence-Based Typing, SBT）和系统进化分析。【结     

Isolation and characterization of a lipopolysaccharide mutant of Legionella pneumophila

A mutant unable to bind a monoclonal antibody (mAb 1E6) directed against serogroup 1 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was isolated from L. pneumophila strain Philadelphia-1. SDS-PAGE analysis of isolated LPS from the mutant and wild type revealed that there were no obvious structural differences between the two LPS. The results from Western-blot experiments showed that the mutant LPS was unable to bind mAb 1E6 but retained the ability to bind polyclonal serogroup 1 antibodies. Loss of the LPS epitope recognized by mAb 1E6 did not alter the ability of the mutant to multiply in human monocyte-like U937 cells. Also, the mutant, like wild type, was resistant to killing by normal human serum. These results show that a minor change in the antigenic composition of serogroup 1 LPS has no effect on the virulence properties of strain Philadelphia-1. Additionally, this mutant may be useful for molecular genetic analysis of serogroup 1 LPS biosynthesis and assembly.     

Micro- and macromethod assays for the ecological study of Legionella pneumophila

The survival of a strain of Legionella pneumophila (Lp-1) inoculated in artificial water microcosms was investigated with and without an amoebal host and varying environmental conditions, such as biofilm formation, amount of nutrients and incubation temperature. The results obtained using short (micromethod) and long (macromethod) term methods showed that L. pneumophila Lp-1 dies rapidly at 4 degrees C in the "macromethod" assay. When the same temperature (4 degrees C) was applied to the "micromethod" assay, L. pneumophila Lp-1 survived for three weeks, although it progressively decreased. At an incubation temperature of 30 degrees C, the aquatic environment was more favourable and better survival emerged in the "macromethod"; in contrast, this favourable temperature condition did not improve the survival of L. pneumophila Lp-1 cultured with the "micromethod". The role of the protozoa Acanthamoeba polyphaga proved to be indispensable for legionella survival only when environmental conditions become unfavourable.     

Distinct difference of flaA genotypes of Legionella pneumophila between isolates from bath water and cooling tower water

To investigate the genetic difference of Legionella pneumophila in human‐made environments, we collected isolates of L. pneumophila from bath water (n = 167) and cooling tower water (n = 128) primarily in the Kanto region in 2001 and 2005. The environmental isolates were serogrouped and sequenced for a target region of flaA. A total of 14 types of flaA genotypes were found: 10 from cooling tower water and nine from bath water. The flaA genotypes of isolates from cooling tower water were quite different from those of bath water.