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 Vanier, G.
Right arrow Articles by Gottschalk, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vanier, G.
Right arrow Articles by Gottschalk, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, March 2004, p. 1441-1449, Vol. 72, No. 3
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.3.1441-1449.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Invasion of Porcine Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells by Streptococcus suis Serotype 2

Ghyslaine Vanier,1 Mariela Segura,1 Peter Friedl,2 Sonia Lacouture,1 and Marcelo Gottschalk1*

Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc (GREMIP), Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada,1 Institute für Biochemie, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany2

Received 15 August 2003/ Returned for modification 1 October 2003/ Accepted 11 December 2003

Streptococcus suis is an important swine pathogen that mainly causes meningitis and occasionally causes other infections, such as endocarditis, arthritis, and pneumonia. The pathogenesis of S. suis infection has not been completely defined. However, in order to cause meningitis, S. suis has to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) made up of brain microvascular endothelial cells. The objective of this work was to study the interactions of S. suis serotype 2 with porcine brain microvascular endothelial cells (PBMEC). The ability of North American and European S. suis serotype 2 strains to adhere to PBMEC and, most importantly, to invade PBMEC was demonstrated by using an antibiotic protection assay and was confirmed by electron microscopy. The polysaccharide capsule of S. suis seemed to partially interfere with the adhesion and invasion abilities of the bacterium. Our results showed that intracellular viable S. suis could be found in PBMEC up to 7 h after antibiotic treatment. Inhibition studies demonstrated that invasion of PBMEC by S. suis required actin microfilaments but not microtubular cytoskeletal elements or active bacterial RNA or protein synthesis. At high bacterial doses, suilysin-positive strains were toxic for PBMEC. The role of suilysin in cytotoxicity was confirmed by using purified suilysin, electron microscopy, and the lack of toxicity of a suilysin-negative mutant. In swine, the invasion of endothelial cells of the BBB could play an important role in the pathogenesis of the meningitis caused by S. suis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: GREMIP, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec J2S 7C6, Canada. Phone: (450) 773-8521, ext. 8374. Fax: (450) 778-8108. E-mail: gottschm{at}medvet.umontreal.ca.

Editor: A. D. O'Brien

Infection and Immunity, March 2004, p. 1441-1449, Vol. 72, No. 3
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.3.1441-1449.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Pan, X., Ge, J., Li, M., Wu, B., Wang, C., Wang, J., Feng, Y., Yin, Z., Zheng, F., Cheng, G., Sun, W., Ji, H., Hu, D., Shi, P., Feng, X., Hao, X., Dong, R., Hu, F., Tang, J. (2009). The Orphan Response Regulator CovR: a Globally Negative Modulator of Virulence in Streptococcus suis Serotype 2. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2601-2612 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Esgleas, M., Li, Y., Hancock, M. A., Harel, J., Dubreuil, J. D., Gottschalk, M. (2008). Isolation and characterization of {alpha}-enolase, a novel fibronectin-binding protein from Streptococcus suis. Microbiology 154: 2668-2679 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fittipaldi, N., Sekizaki, T., Takamatsu, D., Harel, J., Dominguez-Punaro, M. d. l. C., Von Aulock, S., Draing, C., Marois, C., Kobisch, M., Gottschalk, M. (2008). D-Alanylation of Lipoteichoic Acid Contributes to the Virulence of Streptococcus suis. Infect. Immun. 76: 3587-3594 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Behling-Kelly, E., McClenahan, D., Kim, K. S., Czuprynski, C. J. (2007). Viable "Haemophilus somnus" Induces Myosin Light-Chain Kinase-Dependent Decrease in Brain Endothelial Cell Monolayer Resistance. Infect. Immun. 75: 4572-4581 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dominguez-Punaro, M. C., Segura, M., Plante, M.-M., Lacouture, S., Rivest, S., Gottschalk, M. (2007). Streptococcus suis Serotype 2, an Important Swine and Human Pathogen, Induces Strong Systemic and Cerebral Inflammatory Responses in a Mouse Model of Infection. J. Immunol. 179: 1842-1854 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fittipaldi, N., Gottschalk, M., Vanier, G., Daigle, F., Harel, J. (2007). Use of Selective Capture of Transcribed Sequences To Identify Genes Preferentially Expressed by Streptococcus suis upon Interaction with Porcine Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 4359-4364 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Graveline, R., Segura, M., Radzioch, D., Gottschalk, M. (2007). TLR2-dependent recognition of Streptococcus suis is modulated by the presence of capsular polysaccharide which modifies macrophage responsiveness. Int Immunol 19: 375-389 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Behling-Kelly, E., Vonderheid, H., Kim, K. S., Corbeil, L. B., Czuprynski, C. J. (2006). Roles of Cellular Activation and Sulfated Glycans in Haemophilus somnus Adherence to Bovine Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 74: 5311-5318 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vanier, G., Szczotka, A., Friedl, P., Lacouture, S., Jacques, M., Gottschalk, M. (2006). Haemophilus parasuis invades porcine brain microvascular endothelial cells. Microbiology 152: 135-142 [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»