| Institution: | 1. Molecular Oncology GRP and Viral Pathology — IC, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto, Portugal;2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal;3. FP-ENAS Research Unit, UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit, CEBIMED, Biomedical Research centre, Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal;4. LPCC, Research Department, Portuguese League Against Cancer (LPPC-NRN), Portugal;1. Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan;2. Division of Biomedical Imaging Research, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan |
| Abstract: | In gonococci-infected transduced human urethral epithelial cells (THUEC), the role of ERK, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), in apoptosis is unknown. We observed lowering of ERK activation in THUEC following infection with anti-apoptosis-inducing Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain CH811. An isogenic cell division mutant of this strain, Ng CJSD1 (minD deficient), which is large and abnormally shaped, reduced ERK phosphorylation levels even more than its parental strain in THUEC. This led to higher anti-apoptosis in mutant-infected cells as compared to the parental strain-infected cells. Our results suggest that N. gonorrhoeae infection reduces ERK activation in THUEC contributing to anti-apoptosis. |
