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Infection and Immunity, October 1998, p. 4602-4610, Vol. 66, No. 10
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Dalhousie
University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4H7
Received 5 May 1998/Returned for modification 17 June 1998/Accepted 17 July 1998
HeLa cells have been previously used to demonstrate that virulent
strains of Legionella pneumophila (but not salt-tolerant avirulent strains) efficiently invade nonphagocytic cells. Hsp60, a
member of the GroEL family of chaperonins, is displayed on the surface
of virulent L. pneumophila (R. A. Garduño et
al., J. Bacteriol. 180:505-513, 1988). Because Hsp60 is largely
involved in protein-protein interactions, we investigated its role in
adherence-invasion in the HeLa cell model. Hsp60-specific antibodies
inhibited the adherence and invasiveness of two virulent L. pneumophila strains in a dose-dependent manner but had no effect
on the association of their salt-tolerant avirulent derivatives with
HeLa cells. A monospecific anti-OmpS (major outer membrane protein)
serum inhibited the association of both virulent and avirulent strains of L. pneumophila to HeLa cells, suggesting
that while both Hsp60 and OmpS may mediate bacterial association to
HeLa cells, only virulent strains selectively displayed Hsp60 on their
surfaces. Furthermore, the surface-associated Hsp60 of virulent
bacterial cells was susceptible to the action of trypsin, which
rendered the bacteria noninvasive. Additionally, pretreatment of HeLa
cells with purified Hsp60 or precoating of the plastic surface where HeLa cells attached with Hsp60 reduced the adherence and invasiveness of the two virulent strains. Finally, recombinant Hsp60 covalently bound to latex beads promoted the early association of beads with HeLa
cells by a factor of 20 over bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated beads
and competed with virulent strains for association with HeLa cells.
Hsp60-coated beads were internalized in large numbers by HeLa cells and
remained in tight endosomes that did not fuse with other vesicles,
whereas internalized BSA-coated beads, for which endocytic trafficking
is well established, resided in more loose or elongated endosomes.
Mature intracellular forms of L. pneumophila, which were up
to 100-fold more efficient than agar-grown bacteria at associating with
HeLa cells, were enriched for Hsp60 on the bacterial surface, as
determined by immunolocalization techniques. Collectively, these
results establish a role for surface-exposed Hsp60 in invasion of HeLa
cells by L. pneumophila.
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Surface-Associated Hsp60 Chaperonin of Legionella
pneumophila Mediates Invasion in a HeLa Cell Model
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4H7. Phone:
(902) 494-3889. Fax: (902) 494-5125. E-mail:
hoffmanp{at}tupdean1.med.dal.ca.
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