IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
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 Makepeace, B. L.
Right arrow Articles by Christodoulides, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Makepeace, B. L.
Right arrow Articles by Christodoulides, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, March 2001, p. 1909-1913, Vol. 69, No. 3
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.3.1909-1913.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Interactions of Neisseria gonorrhoeae with Mature Human Macrophage Opacity Proteins Influence Production of Proinflammatory Cytokines

Benjamin L. Makepeace, Peter J. Watt, John E. Heckels, and Myron Christodoulides*

Molecular Microbiology Group, Division of Cell and Molecular Medicine, University of Southampton Medical School, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, United Kingdom

Received 7 August 2000/Returned for modification 17 October 2000/Accepted 10 December 2000

The pathological features of ascending gonococcal infection suggest that proinflammatory mediators secreted by tissue-resident macrophages are important components of the host response. Challenge of fully differentiated, mature macrophages with variants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain P9 or purified bacterial surface components (pili, lipooligosaccharide, and outer membrane vesicles) induced the secretion of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha, growth-related protein alpha , macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha ), and RANTES cytokines but had no effect on IL-8 production. No secretion of IL-1beta , epithelial-derived neutrophil attractant 78, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IL-10, or IL-12 cytokines was observed. Notably, the P9-Opab protein, in comparison to P9-Opaa, increased the association of gonococci with macrophages and elevated the secretion of cytokines. Thus, variation in Opa protein expression by the gonococcus may be a determining factor in the severity of pelvic inflammatory disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Molecular Microbiology Group, Mailpoint 814, Division of Cell and Molecular Medicine, University of Southampton Medical School, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, United Kingdom. Phone: (44) 02380-796974. Fax: (44) 02380-796992. E-mail: mc4{at}soton.ac.uk.

Infection and Immunity, March 2001, p. 1909-1913, Vol. 69, No. 3
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.3.1909-1913.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.