梅毒螺旋体免疫相关膜蛋白的研究进展

梅毒是一种由梅毒螺旋体(Treponema.pallidum,Tp)感染所引起的慢性性传播疾病。近年来,其发病率居高不下,引起了全社会广泛的关注。随着分子生物技术的发展和人们的不断探究发现,膜蛋白可能在Tp致病过程中与宿主黏附、宿主免疫炎症反应等方面起着非常重要的作用,可能为Tp的主要致病因子。因此,对Tp膜蛋白的研究是认识其对宿主的致病性和进行致病机制研究的关键,就Tp的几种主要免疫相关膜蛋白的研究进展作了简要综述。     

Alterations in the cell envelope of Escherichia coli late in bacteriophage T4 infection

The cell envelope of Escherichia coli was examined for changes during late stages of bacteriophage T4 infection. Late events in T4 infection are shown to result in (i) a reduction in the effectiveness of membrane separation procedures employing either isopycnic sucrose gradient centrifugation or selective solubilization of inner membrane by detergent (Sarkosyl or Triton X-100), (ii) the appearance of a 54 000 dalton host protein in membrane preparations, (iii) the adventitious presence of detergent-resistant phage morphogenetic structures in membrane preparations, and (iv) a decrease in the activity of NADH oxidase and an apparent alteration in its association with inner membrane. These modifications occur regardless of the state of the $\text{e}$ and $\text{t}$ genes of T4.     

Deciphering the proteomic profile of Mycobacterium leprae cell envelope

The complete sequence of the Mycobacterium leprae genome, an obligate intracellular pathogen, shows a dramatic reduction of functional genes, with a coding capacity of less than 50%. Despite this massive gene decay, the leprosy bacillus has managed to preserve a minimal gene set, most of it shared with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, allowing its survival in the host with ensuing pathological manifestations. Thus, the identification of proteins that are actually expressed in vivo by M. leprae is of high significance in understanding obligate, intracellular mycobacterial pathogenesis. In this study, a high-throughput proteomic approach was undertaken resulting in the identification of 218 new M. leprae proteins. Of these, 60 were in the soluble/cytosol fraction, 98 in the membrane and 104 in the cell wall. Although several proteins were identified in more than one subcellular fraction, the majority were unique to one. As expected, a high percentage of these included enzymes responsible for lipid biosynthesis and degradation, biosynthesis of the major components of the mycobacterial cell envelope, proteins involved in transportation across lipid barriers, and lipoproteins and transmembrane proteins with unknown functions. The data presented in this study contribute to our understanding of the in vivo composition and physiology of the mycobacterial cell envelope, a compartment known to play a major role in bacterial pathogenesis.     

Antibodies to a common outer envelope antigen of Treponema hyodysenteriae with antibacterial activity

Outer envelopes of Treponema hyodysenteriae strains P18A and VS1 were prepared and characterized by SDS-PAGE. In Western blot analysis of eleven strains of T. hyodysenteriae and two intestinal non-pathogenic spirochaetes, polyclonal antiserum raised to the outer envelopes of strain P18A contained antibodies primarily to two polypeptides. A 45 kDa polypeptide was present in only two strains of T. hyodysenteriae, P18A and MC52/80, whereas another antigen of 16 kDa was common to all eleven strains of T. hyodysenteriae but was not present in the two nonpathogens. Immunogold labelling of whole organisms suggested that the 16 kDa antigen was present on the surface of the spirochaetes. In in vitro tests the serum agglutinated and inhibited growth of only the T. hyodysenteriae strains, suggesting that antibodies to the 16 kDa antigen were responsible for these activities. Serum from a gnotobiotic pig infected with T. hyodysenteriae strain P18A had antibodies to the 16 kDa antigen alone and also possessed agglutinating and growth-inhibitory activities.     

梅毒螺旋体膜抗原基因在毕赤酵母中的表达和蛋白纯化

以梅毒螺旋体(Treponema pallidumsubsp.pallidum)Nichols菌株基因组DNA为模板,通过PCR扩增梅毒螺旋体47kDa、17kDa和15kDa 3个膜抗原基因,克隆进毕赤酵母表达载体pPICZ B,构建重组表达载体pTP47、pTP17、pTP15,转化酵母菌株GS115,甲醇诱导表达。表达菌体裂解后通过镍离子亲和层析获得3个抗原与6xHis tag的融合蛋白,重组蛋白的获得量分别为His-TP15:4.8mg/L;His-TP 17:6.6mg/L;His-TP47:25mg/L,经SDS-PAGE鉴定纯度都在96%以上,ELISA鉴定均具有很好的抗原性。从而首次在毕赤酵母中表达出梅毒螺旋体膜抗原,为梅毒血清学检测方法开辟了新的抗原制备途径。     

Ultrastructural localization of the maltose-binding protein within the cell envelope of Escherichia coli

Logarithmically growing cells of Escherichia coli were fixed with glutaraldehyde and incubated with antimaltose-binding protein F_ab coupled to horseradish peroxidase (molecular weight of the complex 80,000). The position of this complex within the cell envelope was determined by reacting with diaminobenzidine-H₂O₂, staining with osmium tetroxide and processing for thin section electron microscopy. The following observations were made: (i) induction of the maltose-binding protein resulted in swelling and staining of the outer membrane; (ii) the swelling and staining was more prominent in short cells, less prominent or absent in long cells; (iii) rare examples exhibited granular staining in the space between the plasma membrane and the peptidoglycan layer. These stainings were observable mainly in pole caps; (iv) a mutant lacking the receptor for phage showed altered staining pattern. Treatment of glutaraldehyde-fixed cells with EDTA-lysozyme prevented the specific labelling of the maltose-binding protein.Lists of Non Common Abbreviations MBP maltose-binding protein - MBP-F_ab)-HRPO F_ab fragments against maltose-binding, protein coupled to horseradish peroxidase - IgG immunoglobulin - PBS pnosphate buffered saline     

Cell surface of the fish pathogenic bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida: I. Relationship between autoagglutination and the presence of a major cell envelope protein

A comparison was made of membrane protein patterns of various Aeromonas salmonicida strains, initially isolated from different habitats with respect to fish species affected, pathological entity, and geographic location of the outbreak of the disease. A major protein with a molecular weight of 54 000 was found in all autoagglutinating strains, whereas this protein is present in low amounts, or not at all, in non-autoagglutinating strains. Evidence for a causal relationship between the presence of this protein and the phenomenon of autoagglutination came from the observation that a change of the growth medium led simultaneously to an almost complete loss of the additional cell envelope protein and the property of autoagglutination. As it has already been reported that autoagglutination is correlated with the presence of an additional cell surface layer, we hypothesize that the additional cell envelope protein is the (major) subunit of this layer. The application of the gel immuno radio assay, an immunological technique suited to detect antigens in a gel, revealed that the additional cell envelope proteins of all tested strains are immunologically related. The possibility to the use of this protein as a component of a vaccine against A. salmonicida infections is discussed.     

A monoclonal antibody reacting with the cell envelope of spirochaetes isolated from cases of intestinal spirochaetosis in pigs and humans

Abstract A monoclonal antibody (mAb) designed BJL/AC1 was prepared against the cell envelope of an intestinal spirochaete (strain 3295) that was isolated from a pig with intestinal spirochaetosis. The mAb reacted with a band of approximately 29 kDa in cell envelope preparations from 13 porcine and 11 human spirochaetes isolated from cases of intestinal spirochaetosis, but did not react with preparations made from a range of other intestinal spirochaetes. Immunogold labelling demonstrated that the reactive epitope was located on the cell envelope of the strains causing intestinal spirochaetosis. The mAb was used in an indirect immunofluorescence test to detect spirochaetes in the faeces of pigs with experimentally induced intestinal spirochaetosis. The mAb should prove to be a useful reagent for detection and identification of spirochaetes that are specifically associated with intestinal spirochaetosis.     

Structure-functional analysis of the Dictyoglomus cell envelope

Several closely related strains of the thermophilic bacterium Dictyoglomus have been isolated from various hot springs on the Philippine archipelago. These strains as well as Dictyoglomus thermophilum H-6-12 were analyzed in view of the structure-functional relationships of the cell envelopes. All envelopes of Dictyoglomus strains show several peculiar features that are apparently either unique for the genus or common for other phylogenetically related Thermotogales. The filamentous cells develop pili at the cell poles, guided by large columnar protein assemblies that traverse the periplasm. Filamentous protein complexes span the periplasmic space at the longitudinal sides of the cell. By the end of the exponential growth phase, Dictyoglomus strains form multicellular aggregates ("rotund bodies") inside a compartment surrounded by a single, continuous outer envelope. The formation of these rotund bodies which are also found in some other deeply branching thermophilic phyla (Thermotoga, Thermus) was studied in detail. The transition between unicellular and multicellular lifestyle can be explained by the partial detachment of a protoplast from the outer envelope during cell division. When the outer envelope is partially detached from the protoplast, mechanical forces generated by protoplast elongation may drive cell rearrangement of daughter cells inside the compartment. During the following rounds of cell division, the overall shape of the compartment changes from spindle-like to globular geometry. Analysis of subcellular fractions of Dictyoglomus cells shows that glucan hydrolases are associated with the compartment. This feature is discussed in view of the multicellular life style of Dictyoglomus.     

Chemical analyses on cell envelope polymers of the halophilic,phototrophic Rhodospirillum salexigens

Whole cells of Rhodospirillum salexigens, an obligatory halophilic bacterium, have a very low peptidoglycan content (0.17 mol muramic acid/mg cell dry weight) which is not sufficient to form a sacculus structure. The isolated peptidoglycan contains glucosamine: muramic acid: diaminopimelic acid: alanine: glutamic acid in molar ratios of 1:1:1:2:3. The degree of cross linking is 30%. A polysaccharide consisting of glucosamine, an unknown compound X and a 2-amino-2-deoxy-pentose (relative molar ratios; 1:2:1) was extracted into the water phase of phenol water extracts of whole cells. The polysaccharide co-sedimented with peptidoglycan when cell homogenates were centrifuged in the presence of 4% NaCl (100,000xg, 4 h) or on a sucrose gradient (20–60% sucrose, 28,000xg, 16 h) in the presence or absence of NaCl and/or EDTA.Lack of -hydroxy fatty acids and of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate in all phenol-water extract fractions as well as in the whole cell hydrolysate indicates the absence of common outer membrane lipopolysaccharide in R. salexigens. Removal of the cell surface layer exposed six proteins to labeling with radioactive iodine catalyzed by lactoperoxidase. These proteins are suggested to be constituents of the outer membrane of R. salexigens.Abbreviations Ala alamine - A₂pm diaminopimelic acid - DDPT dimethyl-3,3-dithiobispropionimidate dihydrochloride - GlcN glucosamine - Glu glutamic acid - Gly glycine - His histidine - MurN muramic acid - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate     

Capsule polysaccharide-protein-peptidoglycan complex in the cell envelope of Rhodobacter capsulatus

The capsule polysaccharide-protein-peptidoglycan complex (insoluble in boiling sodium dodecyl sulfate and hot phenol-water) from cell envelopes of Rhodobacter capsulatus St. Louis was characterized. Hydrofluoric, hydrochloric acid or alkaline hydrolysis solubilized the polysaccharide moiety, whereas the protein-peptidoglycan moiety remained insoluble. On treatment of the protein-peptidoglycan moiety with lysozyme, the protein with peptidoglycan-residues bound was solubilized. It showed a single, broad peptide band (M _r=about 17,000) on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis. The same protein was obtained by lysozyme digestion (without preceding hydrofluoric or hydrochloric acid treatment) of the protein-peptidoglycan complex of the phage-resistant mutant Rhodobacter capsulatus St. Louis RC1^-, in which the capsule polysaccharide is present in a free form. A protein-peptidoglycan complex was isolated also from the capsulefree Rhodobacter capsulatus 37b4. Covalent binding between the protein and peptidoglycan moieties is likely for all three strains as is the lipoprotein nature of the protein moiety. The polysaccharide moiety of the complete complex from the wild-type Rhodobacter capsulatus St. Louis was at least partly removable from the complex in the presence of high salt concentrations or ethylene diamine tetraacetate. A specific amino acid pattern (with Ser, Gly, Glu, and Ala dominating) remained constantly associated with the capsule polysaccharide moiety independent of the separation procedure.Abbreviations A₂pm diaminopimelic acid - Cetavlon cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide - EDTA ethylene-diaminetetraacetate, disodium salt - HF hydrofluoric acid - HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography - PAGL polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - TCA trichloroacetic acid     

Chemerin induced by Treponema pallidum predicted membrane protein Tp0965 mediates the activation of endothelial cell via MAPK signaling pathway

Chemerin, a chemoattractant protein, is involved in endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation in pathological conditions. In a recent study, we observed the upregulation of chemerin in endothelial cells following in vitro treatment with Treponema pallidum. Here, we investigated the role of chemerin in endothelial cells activation induced by the T. pallidum predicted membrane protein Tp0965. Following stimulation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with Tp0965, chemerin and its receptor chemerin receptor 23 (ChemR23) were upregulated, companied with elevated expression of Toll-like receptor 2. Furthermore, chemerin from HUVECs activated endothelial cells via chemerin/ChemR23 signaling in an autocrine/paracrine manner, characterized by upregulated expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1, E-selectin, and matrix metalloproteinase-2. Activation of endothelial cells depended on the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. In addition, Tp0965-induced chemerin promoted THP-1-derived macrophages migration to endothelial cells, also via the chemerin/ChemR23 pathway. The RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway was also involved in THP-1-derived macrophages migration in response to chemerin/ChemR23. Our results highlight the role of Tp0965-induced chemerin in endothelial cells dysfunction, which contributes to the immunopathogenesis of vascular inflammation of syphilis.     

Identification of a crystalline surface layer on the cell envelope of the thermophilic eubacterium Thermus thermophilus

Abstract Analysis by electron microscopy of cells of Thermus thermophilus revealed the presence of a crystalline layer on the cell surface with the characteristic appearance of an S-layer. The layer is apparently built up by a single protein with a M _r of 100 000 in a hexagonal array. The unit cell dimension of the S-layer is 24 ± 2 nm.     

Proteomic analysis of Brucella abortus cell envelope and identification of immunogenic candidate proteins for vaccine development

Brucella abortus is the etiologic agent of bovine brucellosis and causes a chronic disease in humans known as undulant fever. In livestock the disease is characterized by abortion and sterility. Live, attenuated vaccines such as S19 and RB51 have been used to control the spread of the disease in animals; however, they are considered unsafe for human use and they induce abortion in pregnant cattle. For the development of a safer and equally efficacious vaccine, immunoproteomics was utilized to identify novel candidate proteins from B. abortus cell envelope (CE). A total of 163 proteins were identified using 2-DE with MALDI-TOF MS and LC-MS/MS. Some of the major protein components include outer-membrane protein (OMP) 25, OMP31, Omp2b porin, and 60 kDa chaperonin GroEL. 2-DE Western blot analyses probed with antiserum from bovine and a human patient infected with Brucella identified several new immunogenic proteins such as fumarate reductase flavoprotein subunit, F0F1-type ATP synthase alpha subunit, and cysteine synthase A. The elucidation of the immunome of B. abortus CE identified a number of candidate proteins for developing vaccines against Brucella infection in bovine and humans.     

Involvement of lipopolysaccharide in the pathogenicity of Treponema hyodysenteriae

Treponema hyodysenteriae, the etiologic agent of swine dysentery, caused gross and microscopic lesions in the large intestines of C3HeB/FeJ mice. No gross lesions were observed in the intestines of the closely related, but lipopolysaccharide-resistant, C3H/HeJ strain of mice, and microscopic lesions were mild, if present at all. In the presence of actinomycin D, 1 mg of T. hyodysenteriae lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was lethal for C3HeB/FeJ but not for C3H/HeJ mice. Also, the treponemal LPS was chemotactic for macrophages from C3H/HeJ mice but not for macrophages from C3HeB/FeJ mice. The difference between the two mouse strains in lesion development may be due to the nondestructive nature of LPS in C3H/HeJ mice, which suggests that the treponemal LPS is involved in the pathogenicity of T. hyodysenteriae. T. hyodysenteriae may prove to be a useful bacterium in the study of LPS-resistant C3H/HeJ mice, because resistance to the treponemal LPS and to the treponeme itself appear to correlate.     

A pleiotropic role of FlaG in regulating the cell morphogenesis and flagellar homeostasis at the cell poles of Treponema denticola

FlaG homologue has been found in several bacteria including spirochetes; however, its function is poorly characterised. In this report, we investigated the role of TDE1473, a putative FlaG, in the spirochete Treponema denticola, a keystone pathogen of periodontitis. TDE1473 resides in a large gene operon that is controlled by a σ⁷⁰‐like promoter and encodes a putative FlaG protein of 123 amino acids. TDE1473 can be detected in the periplasmic flagella (PFs) of T. denticola, suggesting that it is a flagella‐associated protein. Consistently, in vitro studies demonstrate that the recombinant TDE1473 interacts with the PFs in a dose‐dependent manner and that such an interaction requires FlaA, a flagellar filament sheath protein. Deletion of TDE1473 leads to long and less motile mutant cells. Cryo‐electron tomography analysis reveal that the wild‐type cells have 2–3 PFs with nearly homogenous lengths (ranging from 3 to 6 μm), whereas the mutant cells have less intact PFs with disparate lengths (ranging from 0.1 to 9 μm). The phenotype of T. denticola TDE1473 mutant reported here is different from its counterparts in other bacteria, which provides insight into further understanding the role of FlaG in the regulation of bacterial cell morphogenesis and flagellation.     

Treponema pallidum membrane protein Tp47 induced autophagy and inhibited cell migration in HMC3 cells via the PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 pathway

The migratory ability of microglia facilitates their rapid transport to a site of injury to kill and remove pathogens. However, the effect of Treponema pallidum membrane proteins on microglia migration remains unclear. The effect of Tp47 on the migration ability and autophagy and related mechanisms were investigated using the human microglial clone 3 cell line. Tp47 inhibited microglia migration, the expression of autophagy-associated protein P62 decreased, the expression of Beclin-1 and LC3-II/LC3-I increased, and the autophagic flux increased in this process. Furthermore, autophagy was significantly inhibited, and microglial cell migration was significantly increased after neutralisation with an anti-Tp47 antibody. In addition, Tp47 significantly inhibited the expression of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR proteins, and the sequential activation of steps in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways effectively prevented Tp47-induced autophagy. Moreover, Tp47 significantly inhibited the expression of p-FOXO1 protein and promoted FOXO1 nuclear translocation. Inhibition of FOXO1 effectively suppressed Tp47-induced activation of autophagy and inhibition of migration. Treponema pallidum membrane protein Tp47-induced autophagy and inhibited cell migration in HMC3 Cells via the PI3K/AKT/FOXO1 pathway. These data will contribute to understanding the mechanism by which T. pallidum escapes immune killing and clearance after invasion into the central nervous system.