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Infection and Immunity, May 2006, p. 3006-3011, Vol. 74, No. 5
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.74.5.3006-3011.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Institute of Microbiology, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy,1 Institute of General Pathology, Pathological Anatomy and Veterinary Obstetrics-Surgery Clinic,2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy3
Received 19 September 2005/ Returned for modification 9 November 2005/ Accepted 25 January 2006
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Expression of the hbhA, ftsZ, hsp70, and 16S rRNA genes was assessed using total RNA by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) with an i-Cycler iQ system (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.) (26). Cells and tissues homogenates were resuspended in RNAlater solution (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany), and total RNA was extracted with an RNeasy Protect minikit (QIAGEN) by mechanical disruption, as previously described (11, 26). For each gene, a set of primer pairs and a TaqMan probe were designed with Beacon Designer 2 (version 2.06) software (Premier Biosoft International, Palo Alto, Calif.) and synthesized by MWG Biotech (Florence, Italy) (Table 1). Each reaction was run in quadruplicate, and amplification efficiencies for all genes were determined (21). Because the PCR protocols worked with equal efficiencies, relative mRNA expression levels of hbhA and hsp70 were normalized for input RNA against the level of ftsZ or 16S rRNA gene transcripts. The relative mRNA expression levels of the hbhA and hsp70 genes in each sample were calculated using the comparative cycle time method (16). Comparison between the categorical variables was performed by using the two-tailed Student t test. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
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TABLE 1. Primers used in this study to amplify the gene and sequences of interest
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100-fold increase in the expression of the hbhA gene relative to either the 16S rRNA (Fig. 1C) or ftsZ (Fig. 1D) gene was observed, demonstrating that the hbhA gene is strongly upregulated at the early stationary phase.
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FIG. 1. Expression of the hbhA gene by M. tuberculosis in axenic culture as determined by real-time RT-PCR. M. tuberculosis strain Erdman was grown in liquid medium with gentle shaking at 37°C. (A) Growth curve as determined by CFU counting at the indicated time points. (B) 16S rRNA-normalized levels of ftsZ and hsp70 transcripts at the different time points shown in panel A. (C and D) 16S rRNA (C)- and ftsZ (D)-normalized levels of hbhA determined during in vitro growth. Three samples per time point were analyzed, and RT-PCR was carried out four times on each sample. Error bars show standard deviations.
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) and A549 human pneumocytes with M. tuberculosis. BMM
were established in 24-well plates as previously described (4) and were infected with M. tuberculosis at a multiplicity of infection of 3:1. A549 type II human pneumocytes were cultured in Dulbecco modified Eagle medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. A549 cells were cultured in 24-well plates and infected with M. tuberculosis (multiplicity of infection,
5:1) when they reached a confluence of 60 to 70%. Following infection, BMM
and A549 cells were incubated for 2 hours at 37°C and washed three times with antibiotic-free medium, and then medium containing gentamicin at 50 µg/ml was added to kill extracellular bacteria. At different time points, the cells were washed three times with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and resuspended in 0.5 ml of cell lysis solution (PBS containing 1% Triton X-100). Aliquots (0.4 ml) of the lysates were harvested by centrifugation and used to isolate total RNA, as described above.
As shown in Fig. 2, on day 1 and, more significantly, on day 3 postinfection, an increase in hbhA mRNA levels was observed in M. tuberculosis infecting A549 cells. Conversely, the relative hbhA expression was lower and remained constant in M. tuberculosis infecting BMM
(Fig. 2). These results indicate that the hbhA gene is strongly upregulated in M. tuberculosis infecting type II human pneumocytes but not in M. tuberculosis infecting BMM
.
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FIG. 2. Expression of the hbhA and hsp70 genes in the intracellular environment. BMM (squares) and A549 (circles) cells were infected with the virulent M. tuberculosis Erdman strain. Cells were harvested at different time points, and real-time RT-PCR was performed on the extracted RNA. Gene expression levels were normalized against the ftsZ gene transcripts. Three samples per time point were analyzed, and RT-PCR was carried out four times on each sample. Error bars show standard deviations. Comparisons were performed by using the two-tailed Student t test. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (P < 0.05).
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2 x 102 CFU/mouse) of the M. tuberculosis strain (2). At different time points, five mice per group were sacrificed, the spleens and the right lung lobes were homogenized in PBS containing 0.05% Tween 80, and serial dilutions were plated on 7H11/oleic acid-albumin-dextrose-catalase agar plates to assess CFU per organ (4). One-milliliter aliquots of lung and spleen homogenates per animal were centrifuged, and the pellets were processed to isolate RNA. Right after tissue removal, the lung left lobes were perfused and fixed with neutral buffered paraformaldehyde, processed and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Ziehl-Nielsen stain, and analyzed under light microscopy.
As shown in Fig. 3, during the first 2 weeks of infection M. tuberculosis multiplies logarithmically in lung tissue, reaching a peak of
6.8 log CFU/organ on day 28. Colonization of the spleen was observed starting by day 14 and reached the maximum on day 28 after infection, following a logarithmic growth curve similar to that seen in the lung tissue. Thereafter, M. tuberculosis persisted in the lung and spleen tissues for a long time (150 days).
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FIG. 3. Colonization of host tissues following aerogenic challenge with M. tuberculosis strain Erdman ( 100 CFU/mice). (A) Time course of colonization of lung (filled squares) and spleen (empty squares) tissues as assessed by CFU counts. (B and C) Histopathological analysis of lung tissues isolated from infected mice at 14 days postinfection. The left lobe of the lung was removed, fixed, and stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Ziehl-Nielsen stain. Representative slides are shown. Magnification, x1,000. Arrows indicate AFBs; arrowheads indicate epithelial cells infected with AFBs.
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Figure 4A shows the ftsZ-normalized levels of hbhA in the lung and spleen tissue at the time points indicated in Fig. 3. hbhA gene expression was detected starting on day 7 in the lung, while expression in the spleen could not be demonstrated until day 14, although ftsZ and 16S RNA transcripts were detected (data not shown). On day 14 following infection, ftsZ-normalized levels of hbhA in lung tissue significantly increased (
40-fold). On day 28, relative expression of the hbhA gene decreased, reaching an hbhA/ftsZ ratio of 1, which was maintained throughout the course of infection (day 70 and day 150). Expression of the hbhA gene in the spleen tissue remained low throughout the infection (hbhA/ftsZ ratio of
0.05 to 0.2), and no significant variability was observed at the different time points. Similar results were obtained when 16S rRNA was used as the housekeeping gene (Fig. 4B), indicating that ftsZ is a reliable housekeeping gene in vivo. A comparative analysis of the hbhA gene expression in M. tuberculosis infecting lung and spleen tissues indicates that overall expression of hbhA is 10 to 40 times higher in the lung than in the spleen.
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FIG. 4. Expression of the hbhA gene in the lung and spleen tissues of mice aerogenically challenged with the virulent M. tuberculosis Erdman strain as determined by real-time RT-PCR. ftsZ-normalized (A) and 16S rRNA-normalized (B) levels of hbhA were determined at the time points shown in Fig. 3. Five mice per time point were sacrificed, and RT-PCR was carried out four times on each sample. Error bars show standard deviations. Comparisons were performed by using the two-tailed Student t test. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (P < 0.05).
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Upregulation of the hbhA gene in the lung is tissue specific and cannot be simply associated with bacterial multiplication. The increase in hbhA expression is rather substantial in comparison to that observed for other M. tuberculosis genes known to play an important role in TB pathogenesis, for example, Esat-6, fbpABC, sodC, acr, icl1, mbtA, and others (5, 12, 27, 28, 30). hbhA upregulation appears to be quantitatively much more remarkable than what has been seen, for instance, for the fbpA and fbpB genes (27, 28).
It should be noted that upregulation of the hbhA gene occurs when bacilli are actively multiplying in the lung tissue and the cellular immune response has not yet contained the infected areas. Histopathological analysis of lung tissue carried out on day 14 indicated that AFBs reside primarily in early cellular infiltrates in the alveolar septa, infecting macrophages or epithelial cells. At this time of infection, M. tuberculosis can also be detected in the forming granulomas, mostly at the periphery of the lesions, where it is more likely to escape into the blood system and disseminate. Conversely, analysis of infected lung tissue at later time points indicates that AFBs infect macrophages residing primarily in the inner parts of the lesions, in areas tightly confined by wedges of lymphocytes.
Dissemination of the tubercle bacilli from the site of primary infection is a major step in TB pathogenesis (1). The current hypothesis is that inhalation of bacilli establishes primary lesions in the lungs that cannot be contained by either the innate or the slowly emerging acquired immune response. Multiplying bacteria escape from the primary lesion through a process of hematogenous dissemination that leads to the formation of secondary lesions that appear to be more favorable for the development of lesion reactivation (10, 15). Because HBHA has been clearly implicated in the process of dissemination of M. tuberculosis (19, 22), the results of this study suggest that M. tuberculosis promotes hbhA expression when the bacteria can easily escape from the forming lesions to the bloodstream. Because the hbhA gene is upregulated within A549 pneumocytes, it is possible that HBHA is important not only for adherence to and invasion of epithelial cells (22) but also for escape from these cells into the bloodstream.
The results of this study may also have more practical applications. Improved recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) strains expressing M. tuberculosis antigens are among the most promising vaccine candidates (7, 8, 9), and intranasal administration of a recombinant BCG vaccine has been shown to induce a strong immune response in the lung that resulted in greater protection than systemic administration (6). BCG strains expressing recombinant antigens under the control of the hbhA promoter should warrant a high expression level in the lung that may lead to improved vaccines for use in mucosal immunization strategies against M. tuberculosis or other infectious agents.
This work was supported by a grant from the Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth (Linea D1), by a grant from the Italian MIUR (2004067822_004) (to S.Z.), and by the V Programma Nazionale Ricerca sull'AIDS (50F.13).
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