This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heinzen, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by Devin, C. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heinzen, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by Devin, C. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 4201-4207, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of Actin-Based Movement by Rickettsia rickettsii in Vero Cells

Robert A. Heinzen,* Scott S. Grieshaber, Levi S. Van Kirk, and Clinton J. Devin

Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071-3944

Received 9 February 1999/Returned for modification 24 March 1999/Accepted 20 May 1999

Actin-based motility (ABM) is a virulence mechanism exploited by invasive bacterial pathogens in the genera Listeria, Shigella, and Rickettsia. Due to experimental constraints imposed by the lack of genetic tools and their obligate intracellular nature, little is known about rickettsial ABM relative to Listeria and Shigella ABM systems. In this study, we directly compared the dynamics and behavior of ABM of Rickettsia rickettsii and Listeria monocytogenes. A time-lapse video of moving intracellular bacteria was obtained by laser-scanning confocal microscopy of infected Vero cells synthesizing beta -actin coupled to green fluorescent protein (GFP). Analysis of time-lapse images demonstrated that R. rickettsii organisms move through the cell cytoplasm at an average rate of 4.8 ± 0.6 µm/min (mean ± standard deviation). This speed was 2.5 times slower than that of L. monocytogenes, which moved at an average rate of 12.0 ± 3.1 µm/min. Although rickettsiae moved more slowly, the actin filaments comprising the actin comet tail were significantly more stable, with an average half-life approximately three times that of L. monocytogenes (100.6 ± 19.2 s versus 33.0 ± 7.6 s, respectively). The actin tail associated with intracytoplasmic rickettsiae remained stationary in the cytoplasm as the organism moved forward. In contrast, actin tails of rickettsiae trapped within the nucleus displayed dramatic movements. The observed phenotypic differences between the ABM of Listeria and Rickettsia may indicate fundamental differences in the mechanisms of actin recruitment and polymerization.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3944. Phone: (307) 766-5458. Fax: (307) 766-3875. E-mail: rheinzen{at}uwyo.edu.

Infection and Immunity, August 1999, p. 4201-4207, Vol. 67, No. 8
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Rydkina, E., Sahni, A., Silverman, D. J., Sahni, S. K. (2007). Comparative analysis of host-cell signalling mechanisms activated in response to infection with Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia typhi. J Med Microbiol 56: 896-906 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Perotti, M. A., Clarke, H. K., Turner, B. D., Braig, H. R. (2006). Rickettsia as obligate and mycetomic bacteria. FASEB J. 20: 2372-2374 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jewett, T. J., Fischer, E. R., Mead, D. J., Hackstadt, T. (2006). Chlamydial TARP is a bacterial nucleator of actin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 15599-15604 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • VALBUENA, G., WALKER, D. H. (2004). EFFECT OF BLOCKING THE CXCL9/10-CXCR3 CHEMOKINE SYSTEM IN THE OUTCOME OF ENDOTHELIAL-TARGET RICKETTSIAL INFECTIONS. Am J Trop Med Hyg 71: 393-399 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Clifton, D. R., Fields, K. A., Grieshaber, S. S., Dooley, C. A., Fischer, E. R., Mead, D. J., Carabeo, R. A., Hackstadt, T. (2004). From The Cover: A chlamydial type III translocated protein is tyrosine-phosphorylated at the site of entry and associated with recruitment of actin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 10166-10171 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Macaluso, K. R., Mulenga, A., Simser, J. A., Azad, A. F. (2003). Differential Expression of Genes in Uninfected and Rickettsia-Infected Dermacentor variabilis Ticks as Assessed by Differential-Display PCR. Infect. Immun. 71: 6165-6170 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Valbuena, G., Bradford, W., Walker, D. H. (2003). Expression Analysis of the T-Cell-Targeting Chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 in Mice and Humans with Endothelial Infections Caused by Rickettsiae of the Spotted Fever Group. Am. J. Pathol. 163: 1357-1369 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grieshaber, S. S., Grieshaber, N. A., Hackstadt, T. (2003). Chlamydia trachomatis uses host cell dynein to traffic to the microtubule-organizing center in a p50 dynamitin-independent process. J. Cell Sci. 116: 3793-3802 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fehrenbacher, K., Huckaba, T., Yang, H.-C., Boldogh, I., Pon, L. (2003). Actin comet tails, endosomes and endosymbionts. J. Exp. Biol. 206: 1977-1984 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Harlander, R. S., Way, M., Ren, Q., Howe, D., Grieshaber, S. S., Heinzen, R. A. (2003). Effects of Ectopically Expressed Neuronal Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Domains on Rickettsia rickettsii Actin-Based Motility. Infect. Immun. 71: 1551-1556 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Simser, J. A., Palmer, A. T., Fingerle, V., Wilske, B., Kurtti, T. J., Munderloh, U. G. (2002). Rickettsia monacensis sp. nov., a Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia, from Ticks (Ixodes ricinus) Collected in a European City Park. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 4559-4566 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carabeo, R. A., Grieshaber, S. S., Fischer, E., Hackstadt, T. (2002). Chlamydia trachomatis Induces Remodeling of the Actin Cytoskeleton during Attachment and Entry into HeLa Cells. Infect. Immun. 70: 3793-3803 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Radulovic, S., Price, P. W., Beier, M. S., Gaywee, J., Macaluso, J. A., Azad, A. (2002). Rickettsia-Macrophage Interactions: Host Cell Responses to Rickettsia akari and Rickettsia typhi. Infect. Immun. 70: 2576-2582 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Goldberg, M. B. (2001). Actin-Based Motility of Intracellular Microbial Pathogens. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 65: 595-626 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vazquez-Boland, J. A., Kuhn, M., Berche, P., Chakraborty, T., Dominguez-Bernal, G., Goebel, W., Gonzalez-Zorn, B., Wehland, J., Kreft, J. (2001). Listeria Pathogenesis and Molecular Virulence Determinants. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 14: 584-640 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Simser, J. A., Palmer, A. T., Munderloh, U. G., Kurtti, T. J. (2001). Isolation of a Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia, Rickettsia peacockii, in a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick, Dermacentor andersoni, Cell Line. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 546-552 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wood, D. O., Azad, A. F. (2000). Genetic Manipulation of Rickettsiae: a Preview. Infect. Immun. 68: 6091-6093 [Full Text]  
  • Van Kirk, L. S., Hayes, S. F., Heinzen, R. A. (2000). Ultrastructure of Rickettsia rickettsii Actin Tails and Localization of Cytoskeletal Proteins. Infect. Immun. 68: 4706-4713 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»