Disruption of the NlpD lipoprotein of the plague pathogen Yersinia pestis affects iron acquisition and the activity of the twin-arginine translocation system.

We have previously shown that the cell morphogenesis NlpD lipoprotein is essential for virulence of the plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis. To elucidate the role of NlpD in Y. pestis pathogenicity, we conducted a whole-genome comparative transcriptome analysis of the wild-type Y.

Adjunctive Corticosteroid Treatment Against Yersinia pestis Improves Bacterial Clearance, Immunopathology, and Survival in the Mouse Model of Bubonic Plague.

Background: Plague is initiated by Yersinia pestis, a highly virulent bacterial pathogen. In late stages of the infection, bacteria proliferate extensively in the internal organs despite the massive infiltration of neutrophils. The ineffective inflammatory response associated with tissue damage may contribute to the low efficacy of antiplague therapies during late stages of the infection.

Early sensing of Yersinia pestis airway infection by bone marrow cells.

Bacterial infection of the lungs triggers a swift innate immune response that involves the production of cytokines and chemokines that promote recruitment of immune cells from the bone marrow (BM) into the infected tissue and limit the ability of the pathogen to replicate. Recent in vivo studies of pneumonic plague in animal models indicate that the pulmonary pro-inflammatory response to airway infection with Yersinia pestis is substantially delayed in comparison to other pathogens. Consequently, uncontrolled proliferation of the pathogen in the lungs is observed, followed by dissemination to internal organs and death.

T cells play an essential role in anti-F1 mediated rapid protection against bubonic plague.

Plague, which is initiated by Yersinia pestis infection, is a fatal disease that progresses rapidly and leads to high mortality rates if not treated. Antibiotics are an effective plague therapy, but antibiotic-resistant Y. pestis strains have been reported and therefore alternative countermeasures are needed.

The search for early markers of plague: evidence for accumulation of soluble Yersinia pestis LcrV in bubonic and pneumonic mouse models of disease.

Markers of the early stages of plague, a rapidly progressing deadly disease, are crucial for enabling the onset of an effective treatment. Here, we show that V-antigen protein (LcrV) is accumulated in the serum of Yersinia pestis-infected mice before bacterial colonization of the spleen and dissemination to blood, in a model of bubonic plague. LcrV accumulation is detected earlier than that of F1 capsular antigen, an established marker of disease.

The NlpD lipoprotein is a novel Yersinia pestis virulence factor essential for the development of plague.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague. Previously we have isolated an attenuated Y. pestis transposon insertion mutant in which the pcm gene was disrupted.

Yersinia pestis endowed with increased cytotoxicity is avirulent in a bubonic plague model and induces rapid protection against pneumonic plague.

An important virulence strategy evolved by bacterial pathogens to overcome host defenses is the modulation of host cell death. Previous observations have indicated that Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague disease, exhibits restricted capacity to induce cell death in macrophages due to ineffective translocation of the type III secretion effector YopJ, as opposed to the readily translocated YopP, the YopJ homologue of the enteropathogen Yersinia enterocolitica Oratio8. This led us to suggest that reduced cytotoxic potency may allow pathogen propagation within a shielded niche, leading to increased virulence.

Enrichment of Yersinia pestis from blood cultures enables rapid antimicrobial susceptibility determination by flow cytometry.

Mortality from plague is high if not treated with the proper antibiotics within 18-24 hours after onset of symptoms. The process of antibiotic susceptibility determination of Yersinia pestis isolated from blood samples may extend from 4 to more than 7 days, since the in vitro growth is very slow. To accelerate this process, we developed an enrichment protocol as well as a non-standard yet reliable method for rapid antibiotic susceptibility analysis of Y.

Disparity between Yersinia pestis and Yersinia enterocolitica O:8 in YopJ/YopP-dependent functions.

YopP in Y. enterocolitica and YopJ in Y. pseudotuberculosis, have been shown to exert a variety of adverse effects on cell signaling leading to suppression of cytokine expression and induction of programmed cell death.

Interaction of Yersinia pestis with macrophages: limitations in YopJ-dependent apoptosis.

The enteropathogenic Yersinia strains are known to downregulate signaling pathways in macrophages by effectors of the type III secretion system, in which YopJ/YopP plays a crucial role. The adverse effects of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, were examined by infecting J774A.1 cells, RAW264.

Generation of Yersinia pestis attenuated strains by signature-tagged mutagenesis in search of novel vaccine candidates.

In a search for novel attenuated vaccine candidates for use against Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, a signature-tagged mutagenesis strategy was used and optimized for a subcutaneously infected mouse model. A library of tagged mutants of the virulent Y. pestis Kimberley53 strain was generated.

Development of an improved selective agar medium for isolation of Yersinia pestis.

Existing media designed for selective isolation of clinically important members of the genus Yersinia were found to be unsatisfactory for the growth and isolation of Yersinia pestis. We report the development of a new selective agar medium (termed BIN) that supports the growth of Y. pestis.

Effective protective immunity to Yersinia pestis infection conferred by DNA vaccine coding for derivatives of the F1 capsular antigen.

Three plasmids expressing derivatives of the Yersinia pestis capsular F1 antigen were evaluated for their potential as DNA vaccines. These included plasmids expressing the full-length F1, F1 devoid of its putative signal peptide (deF1), and F1 fused to the signal-bearing E3 polypeptide of Semliki Forest virus (E3/F1). Expression of these derivatives in transfected HEK293 cells revealed that deF1 is expressed in the cytosol, E3/F1 is targeted to the secretory cisternae, and the nonmodified F1 is rapidly eliminated from the cell.

Repressor forms of the enhancer-binding protein NrtC: some fail in coupling ATP hydrolysis to open complex formation by sigma 54-holoenzyme.

NtrC (nitrogen regulatory protein C) is a bacterial enhancer-binding protein that activates transcription by catalyzing isomerization of closed complexes between sigma54-holoenzyme and a promoter to open complexes. To catalyze this reaction, NtrC must be phosphorylated and form an appropriate oligomer so that it can hydrolyze ATP. NtrC can also repress transcription by sigma70-holoenzyme.

Three novel plasmid R6K proteins act in concert to distort DNA within the alpha and beta origins of DNA replication.

Three novel R6K genes which are responsible for expression of DNA distortion polypeptides (DDP) were identified. The DDPs act in vivo in concert to induce similar stepwise DNA helix distortions within two long inverted repeats (alpha LIR and beta LIR), which are essential elements for the two distally located R6K alpha and beta DNA replication origins. DDP1 and DDP2 are encoded by two tandem genes located at the 5' end of alpha LIR, whereas a gene coding for DDP3 is located at the 3' end of beta LIR.

Altered (copy-up) forms of initiator protein pi suppress the point mutations inactivating the gamma origin of plasmid R6K.

The R6K gamma origin core contains the P2 promoter, whose -10 and -35 hexamers overlap two of the seven binding sites for the R6K-encoded pi protein. Two mutations, P2-201 and P2-203, which lie within the -35 region of P2, are shown to confer a promoter-down phenotype. We demonstrate here that these mutations prevent replication of a gamma origin core plasmid.

Constitutive forms of the enhancer-binding protein NtrC: evidence that essential oligomerization determinants lie in the central activation domain.

Nitrogen regulatory protein C (NtrC) is a bacterial enhancer-binding protein that activates transcription by the sigma 54-holoenzyme. To activate transcription, NtrC must hydrolyze ATP, a reaction that depends upon its being phosphorylated and forming an appropriate oligomer. In this paper we characterize "constitutive" mutant forms of the NtrC protein from Salmonella typhimurium; unlike wild-type NtrC, these forms are able to hydrolyze ATP and activate transcription in vitro without being phosphorylated.

Reversal of signal-mediated cellular retention by subunit assembly of human acetylcholinesterase.

The interrelationship between signal-mediated endoplasmic reticulum retention and control of subunit assembly in secreted complex proteins was examined in recombinant 293 cells expressing human acetylcholinesterase (HuAChE). This was achieved by analyzing the mutual effects of co-residing retention and dimerization signals on enzyme secretion by transfected cells. The function of putative signals within the COOH-terminal tetrapeptide CSDL of HuAChE was examined by site-directed mutagenesis.

N-glycosylation of human acetylcholinesterase: effects on activity, stability and biosynthesis.

The role of N-glycosylation in the function of human acetylcholinesterase (HuAChE) was examined by site-directed mutagenesis (Asn to Gln substitution) of the three potential N-glycosylation sites Asn-265, Asn-350 and Asn-464. Analysis of HuAChE mutants, defective in a single or multiple N-glycosylation sites, by expression in transiently or stably transfected human embryonal 293 kidney cells suggests the following. (a) All three AChE glycosylation signals are utilized, but not all the secreted molecules are fully glycosylated.