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 Bozue, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hale, M. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bozue, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hale, M. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, September 2007, p. 4498-4505, Vol. 75, No. 9
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00434-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bacillus anthracis Spores of the bclA Mutant Exhibit Increased Adherence to Epithelial Cells, Fibroblasts, and Endothelial Cells but Not to Macrophages{triangledown}

Joel Bozue,1* Krishna L. Moody,1 Christopher K. Cote,1 Bradley G. Stiles,2 Arthur M. Friedlander,3 Susan L. Welkos,1 and Martha L. Hale2

Bacteriology Division,1 Integrated Toxicology Division,2 Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland3

Received 26 March 2007/ Returned for modification 10 May 2007/ Accepted 15 June 2007

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, and the spore form of the bacterium represents the infectious particle introduced into a host. The spore is surrounded by an exosporium, a loose-fitting membrane composed of proteins and carbohydrates from which hair-like projections extend. These projections are composed mainly of BclA (Bacillus-collagen-like protein of B. anthracis). To date, exact roles of the exosporium structure and BclA protein remain undetermined. We examined differences in spore binding of wild-type Ames and a bclA mutant of B. anthracis to bronchial epithelial cells as well as to the following other epithelial cells: A549, CHO, and Caco-2 cells; the IMR-90 fibroblast line; and human umbilical vein vascular endothelium cells. The binding of wild-type Ames spores to bronchial epithelial cells appeared to be a dose-dependent, receptor-ligand-mediated event. There were similar findings for the bclA mutant, with an additional nonspecific binding component likely leading to significantly more adherence to all nonprofessional phagocytic cell types. In contrast, we detected no difference in adherence and uptake of spores by macrophages for either the wild-type Ames or the bclA mutant strain. These results suggest that one potential role of the BclA fibers may be to inhibit nonspecific interactions between B. anthracis spores with nonprofessional phagocytic cells and thus direct the spores towards uptake by macrophages during initiation of infection in mammals.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Bacteriology Division, USAMRIID, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702. Phone: (301) 619-4934. Fax: (301) 619-2152. E-mail: joel.a.bozue{at}us.army.mil

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 July 2007.

Editor: D. L. Burns

Infection and Immunity, September 2007, p. 4498-4505, Vol. 75, No. 9
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00434-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cote, C. K., Bozue, J., Twenhafel, N., Welkos, S. L. (2009). Effects of altering the germination potential of Bacillus anthracis spores by exogenous means in a mouse model. J Med Microbiol 58: 816-825 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mukhopadhyay, S., Akmal, A., Stewart, A. C., Hsia, R.-c., Read, T. D. (2009). Identification of Bacillus anthracis Spore Component Antigens Conserved across Diverse Bacillus cereus sensu lato Strains. Mol. Cell. Proteomics 8: 1174-1191 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Giorno, R., Mallozzi, M., Bozue, J., Moody, K.-S., Slack, A., Qiu, D., Wang, R., Friedlander, A., Welkos, S., Driks, A. (2009). Localization and assembly of proteins comprising the outer structures of the Bacillus anthracis spore. Microbiology 155: 1133-1145 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Russell, B. H., Liu, Q., Jenkins, S. A., Tuvim, M. J., Dickey, B. F., Xu, Y. (2008). In Vivo Demonstration and Quantification of Intracellular Bacillus anthracis in Lung Epithelial Cells. Infect. Immun. 76: 3975-3983 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Stojkovic, B., Torres, E. M., Prouty, A. M., Patel, H. K., Zhuang, L., Koehler, T. M., Ballard, J. D., Blanke, S. R. (2008). High-Throughput, Single-Cell Analysis of Macrophage Interactions with Fluorescently Labeled Bacillus anthracis Spores. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5201-5210 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dong, S., McPherson, S. A., Tan, L., Chesnokova, O. N., Turnbough, C. L. Jr., Pritchard, D. G. (2008). Anthrose Biosynthetic Operon of Bacillus anthracis. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2350-2359 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Oliva, C. R., Swiecki, M. K., Griguer, C. E., Lisanby, M. W., Bullard, D. C., Turnbough, C. L. Jr., Kearney, J. F. (2008). The integrin Mac-1 (CR3) mediates internalization and directs Bacillus anthracis spores into professional phagocytes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 1261-1266 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brahmbhatt, T. N., Janes, B. K., Stibitz, E. S., Darnell, S. C., Sanz, P., Rasmussen, S. B., O'Brien, A. D. (2007). Bacillus anthracis Exosporium Protein BclA Affects Spore Germination, Interaction with Extracellular Matrix Proteins, and Hydrophobicity. Infect. Immun. 75: 5233-5239 [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»