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 Bakardjiev, A. I.
Right arrow Articles by Portnoy, D. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bakardjiev, A. I.
Right arrow Articles by Portnoy, D. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, January 2004, p. 489-497, Vol. 72, No. 1
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.1.489-497.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Listeriosis in the Pregnant Guinea Pig: a Model of Vertical Transmission

Anna I. Bakardjiev,1* Brian A. Stacy,2 Susan J. Fisher,3,4,5 and Daniel A. Portnoy1,6

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology,1 School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley,6 Anatomic Pathology Service, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis,2 Departments of Stomatology,3 Anatomy,4 Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco, California5

Received 16 June 2003/ Returned for modification 18 August 2003/ Accepted 17 September 2003

Feto-placental infections represent a major cause of pregnancy complications, and yet the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms of vertical transmission are poorly understood. Listeria monocytogenes, a facultative intracellular pathogen, is one of a group of pathogens that are known to cause feto-placental infections in humans and other mammals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible mechanisms of vertical transmission of L. monocytogenes. Humans and guinea pigs have a hemochorial placenta, where a single layer of fetally derived trophoblasts separates maternal from fetal circulation. We characterized L. monocytogenes infection of the feto-placental unit in a pregnant guinea pig model and in primary human trophoblasts and trophoblast-derived cell lines. The clinical manifestations of listeriosis in the pregnant guinea pigs and the tropism of L. monocytogenes to the guinea pig placenta resembled those in humans. Trophoblast cell culture systems were permissive for listerial growth and cell-to-cell spread and revealed that L. monocytogenes deficient in internalin A, a virulence factor that mediates invasion of nonphagocytic cells, was 100-fold defective in invasion. However, crossing of the feto-placental barrier in the guinea pig model was independent of internalin A, suggesting a negligible role for internalin-mediated direct invasion of trophoblasts in vivo. Further understanding of vertical transmission of L. monocytogenes will help in designing more effective means of treatment and disease prevention.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Portnoy Lab, 510 Barker Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3202. Phone: (510) 643-3926. Fax: (510) 643-6334. E-mail: annaib{at}uclink.berkeley.edu.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Infection and Immunity, January 2004, p. 489-497, Vol. 72, No. 1
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.1.489-497.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cheeran, M. C.-J., Lokensgard, J. R., Schleiss, M. R. (2009). Neuropathogenesis of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection: Disease Mechanisms and Prospects for Intervention. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 22: 99-126 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Orsi, R. H., Ripoll, D. R., Yeung, M., Nightingale, K. K., Wiedmann, M. (2007). Recombination and positive selection contribute to evolution of Listeria monocytogenes inlA. Microbiology 153: 2666-2678 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McGann, P., Wiedmann, M., Boor, K. J. (2007). The Alternative Sigma Factor {sigma}B and the Virulence Gene Regulator PrfA Both Regulate Transcription of Listeria monocytogenes Internalins. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 2919-2930 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Le Monnier, A., Autret, N., Join-Lambert, O. F., Jaubert, F., Charbit, A., Berche, P., Kayal, S. (2007). ActA Is Required for Crossing of the Fetoplacental Barrier by Listeria monocytogenes. Infect. Immun. 75: 950-957 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Garner, M. R., Njaa, B. L., Wiedmann, M., Boor, K. J. (2006). Sigma B Contributes to Listeria monocytogenes Gastrointestinal Infection but Not to Systemic Spread in the Guinea Pig Infection Model. Infect. Immun. 74: 876-886 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Le Monnier, A., Join-Lambert, O. F., Jaubert, F., Berche, P., Kayal, S. (2006). Invasion of the Placenta during Murine Listeriosis. Infect. Immun. 74: 663-672 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nightingale, K. K., Windham, K., Martin, K. E., Yeung, M., Wiedmann, M. (2005). Select Listeria monocytogenes Subtypes Commonly Found in Foods Carry Distinct Nonsense Mutations in inlA, Leading to Expression of Truncated and Secreted Internalin A, and Are Associated with a Reduced Invasion Phenotype for Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 8764-8772 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kim, H., Marquis, H., Boor, K. J. (2005). {sigma}B contributes to Listeria monocytogenes invasion by controlling expression of inlA and inlB. Microbiology 151: 3215-3222 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhao, X., Li, Z., Gu, B., Frankel, F. R. (2005). Pathogenicity and Immunogenicity of a Vaccine Strain of Listeria monocytogenes That Relies on a Suicide Plasmid To Supply an Essential Gene Product. Infect. Immun. 73: 5789-5798 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mueller, K. J., Freitag, N. E. (2005). Pleiotropic Enhancement of Bacterial Pathogenesis Resulting from the Constitutive Activation of the Listeria monocytogenes Regulatory Factor PrfA. Infect. Immun. 73: 1917-1926 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kim, H., Boor, K. J., Marquis, H. (2004). Listeria monocytogenes {sigma}B Contributes to Invasion of Human Intestinal Epithelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 72: 7374-7378 [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»