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Infection and Immunity, May 2005, p. 3072-3082, Vol. 73, No. 5
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.5.3072-3082.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

CD46-Independent Binding of Neisserial Type IV Pili and the Major Pilus Adhesin, PilC, to Human Epithelial Cells

Marieluise Kirchner, Dagmar Heuer, and Thomas F. Meyer*

Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Schumannstrasse 21/22, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Received 19 August 2004/ Returned for modification 24 September 2004/ Accepted 22 November 2004

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a gram-negative bacterial pathogen which infects the human mucosal epithelium. An early critical event in neisserial infection is the type IV pilus-mediated adherence to the host cell. The PilC protein, located on the pilus tip, has earlier been identified as the major pilus adhesin. Previous studies suggested that the cell surface protein CD46 is a pilus receptor for Neisseria. We investigated the role of CD46 in pilus-mediated gonococcal infection of epithelial cells. Differences in binding efficiencies of piliated gonococci as well as purified pilus adhesin PilC2 on human epithelial cell lines did not correlate to the level of surface-expressed CD46. Additionally, no binding of piliated gonococci or PilC2 protein was observed on CD46-transfected CHO and MDCK cells. Furthermore, specific down-regulation of CD46 expression in human epithelial cell lines by RNA interference did not alter the binding efficiency of piliated gonococci or purified PilC2 protein, although other CD46-dependent processes, such as measles virus infection and C3b cleavage, were significantly reduced. These data support the notion that pilus-mediated gonococcal infection of epithelial cells can occur in a CD46-independent manner, thus questioning the function of CD46 as an essential pilus receptor for pathogenic neisseriae.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Max-Planck Institute for Infection Biology/Department of Molecular Biology, Schumannstrasse 21/22, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Phone: 49/30-28460-400/-402. Fax: 49/30-28460-401. E-mail: meyer{at}mpiib-berlin.mpg.de.

Editor: A. D. O'Brien

Infection and Immunity, May 2005, p. 3072-3082, Vol. 73, No. 5
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.5.3072-3082.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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