Emiko Isogai

Novel Genetic Variants of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma centrale, and a Novel Ehrlichia sp. in Wild Deer and Ticks on Two Major Islands in Japan

ABSTRACT Wild deer are one of the important natural reservoir hosts of several species of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma that cause human ehrlichiosis or anaplasmosis in the United States and Europe. The primary aim of the present study was to determine whether and what species of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma naturally infect deer in Japan. Blood samples obtained from wild deer on two major Japanese islands, Hokkaido and Honshu, were tested for the presence of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma by PCR assays and sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes, major outer membrane protein p44 genes, and groESL. DNA representing four species and two genera of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma was identified in 33 of 126 wild deer (26%). DNA sequence analysis revealed novel strains of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a novel Ehrlichia sp., Anaplasma centrale, and Anaplasma bovis in the blood samples from deer. None of these have been found previously in deer. The new Ehrlichia sp., A. bovis, and A. centrale were also detected in Hemaphysalis longicornis ticks from Honshu Island. These results suggest that enzootic cycles of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species distinct from those found in the United States or Europe have been established in wild deer and ticks in Japan.

Specific inhibition of adherence of an oral strain of Bacteroides gingivalis 381 to epithelial cells by monoclonal antibodies against the bacterial fimbriae

Monoclonal antibodies against purified fimbriae from this organism blocked its adherence to buccal epithelial cells. Three clones of monoclonal antibodies against these fimbriae were selected for use. The isotype of the three was IgG1 kappa chain. The antibodies reacted with fimbriae or their partially dissociated oligomers, but not with their constituent monomers (43 K protein, fimbrilin) or with other B. gingivalis 381 components, in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or by immuno-blotting. The antibodies agglutinated only B. gingivalis 381 cells and no other species of Bacteroides. The purified immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies inhibited bacterial adherence to the human buccal epithelial cells, but had no effect on bacterial haemagglutination to various animal and human erythrocytes. The papain-cleaved Fab fragment, which did not allow cell to cell cross-linking, also inhibited adherence of B. gingivalis 381 but did not interfere with haemagglutination. Thus the fimbriae of B. gingivalis 381 may be responsible for adherence to epithelial cells, which supports the notion that a different type of fimbria or a lectin-like protein may be acting as haemagglutinin in this bacterium.

Immunology and functional genomics of Behçet's disease

Behçets disease (BD) is a multisystemic inflammatory disorder. Although the cause and pathogenesis of BD are still unclear, there is evidence for genetic, immunologic and infectious factors at the onset or in the course of BD. This review focusses on the functional genomics and immunology of BD. HLA-B51 is the major disease susceptibility gene locus in BD. An increased number of γδ T cells in the peripheral blood and in the involved tissues have been reported. However, the T cells at the sites of inflammation appear to be a phenotypically distinct subset. There is also a significant γδ T cell proliferative response to mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein peptides. Homologous peptides derived from the human 60-kDa heat shock protein were observed in BD patients. There is evidence that natural killer T cells may also play a role in BD.

Turnover of FlhD and FlhC, master regulator proteins for Salmonella flagellum biogenesis, by the ATP-dependent ClpXP protease

In enterobacteria such as Salmonella, flagellar biogenesis is dependent upon the master operon flhDC at the apex of the flagellar gene hierarchy, which is divided into three classes 1, 2 and 3. Previously we reported that depletion of the ClpXP ATP‐dependent protease results in dramatic enhancement of class 2 and class 3 gene transcription, whereas the transcription level of the flhDC operon remains normal in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. This suggests that the ClpXP protease may be responsible for the turnover of the FlhD and FlhC master regulators (Tomoyasu, T., Ohkishi, T., Ukyo, Y., Tokumitsu, A., Takaya, A., Suzuki, M. et al., 2002, J Bacteriol 184:645–653). In this study, to establish the role of the ClpXP protease in the turnover of FlhD and FlhC proteins, we analysed levels of the FlhD and FlhC proteins in wild‐type and ClpXP mutant cells using anti‐FlhD and anti‐FlhC antibodies. The results show that both FlhD and FlhC proteins are markedly accumulated in ClpXP mutant cells and the half‐life of FlhC is approximately fivefold longer in the ClpXP mutant, suggesting that the ClpXP protease is responsible for the degradation of FlhD and FlhC. The results also show that the ClpXP protease degrades both proteins in FlhD2FlhC2 complex but does not seem to recognize the respective subunits synthesized individually. Taken together, it is suggested that the cellular concentration of the FlhD2FlhC2 master regulator is tightly controlled at the post‐translational level by the ClpXP protease. We also examined the role of other members of the ATP‐dependent protease family in the regulation of flagellar biogenesis and concluded that only ClpXP in this family functions as a negative regulator for flagellar biogenesis in Salmonella.

Chemiluminescence of neutrophils from patients with Behçet's disease and its correlation with an increased proportion of uncommon serotypes of Streptococcus sanguis in the oral flora.

Zymosan-induced chemiluminescence was investigated in whole blood and in neutrophils: in both, the peak count was frequently elevated in Behçets disease, and was significantly higher than in healthy controls; similarly the peak time was shorter. There were more uncommon serotypes of Streptococcus sanguis in the oral flora of patients with Behçets disease. Common serotypes were present in the flora of healthy controls, but not in patients with the disease. The percentage of Strep. sanguis in the oral flora was significantly correlated with the level of chemiluminescence response. Thus infection with uncommon serotypes of Strep. sanguis may play a role in the aetiology of Behçets disease.

Degradation of the HilC and HilD regulator proteins by ATP‐dependent Lon protease leads to downregulation of Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 gene expression

Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) enables infecting Salmonella to cross the small intestinal barrier and to escape phagocytosis by inducing apoptosis. Several environmental signals and transcriptional regulators modulate the expression of hilA, which encodes a protein playing a central role in the regulatory hierarchy of SPI1 gene expression. We have previously shown that Lon, a stress‐induced ATP‐dependent protease, is a negative regulator of hilA, suggesting that it targets factors required for activating hilA expression. To elucidate the mechanisms by which Lon protease negatively regulates SPI1 transcription, we looked for its substrate proteins. We found that HilC and HilD, which are positive regulators of hilA expression, accumulate in Lon‐depleted cells, and that the enhancement of SPI1 expression that occurs in a lon‐disrupted mutant is not observed in the lon hilC hilD triple null mutant. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the half‐lives of HilC and HilD are, respectively, about 12 times and three times longer in the Lon‐depleted mutant, than in the Lon+ cells, suggesting that Lon targets both of HilC and HilD. In view of these findings, we suggest that the regulation of SPI1 expression is negatively controlled through degradation of the HilC and HilD transcriptional regulators by Lon.

The role of streptococcal hypersensitivity in the pathogenesis of Behçet’s Disease

Behçets disease (BD) is still considered as a mysterious multisystemic disorder characterized by recurrent involvement of muco-cutaneous, ocular, intestinal, vascular and/or nervous system organs. In this review, we would like to highlight and discuss several important advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of BD based on the intrinsic genetic factors including HLA-B51 and MICA expression and extrinsic triggering factors. As one of the extrinsic triggering factors, we focused on the hypersensitivity against oral streptococci which might be acquired through the innate immune mechanism. It was found that HLA-B51 restricted CD8 T cell response was clearly correlated with the target tissues expressing MICA*009 by stress in active BD patients with HLA-B51 as the intrinsic factors. Bes-1 gene and HSP-65 derived from oral S. sanguinis, which is the uncommon serotype (KTH-1, strain BD113-20), are supposed to play important roles as an extrinsic factor in BD pathogenesis. The peptides of the Bes-1 gene are highly homologous with the retinal protein Brn3b and moreover, the Bes-1 peptides were homologous with HSP-65 derived from microorganisms in association with the counterpart human HSP-60, which appeared reactively in the patients. HSP-65/60 also has high homologies with the respective T cell epitope of BD patients. Although HSP-65/60 and the peptides of Bes-1 gene were found to stimulate PBMCs from BD patients in the production of pro-inflammatory Th1 type cytokines, some homologous peptides of HSP-65 with T cell epitopes were found to reduce IL-8, IL-12 and TNF-alpha produced from PBMCs of active BD patients. The findings might be correlated with the clinically therapeutic effects for BD patients with severe uveitis, who were led to immunotolerance by the peptide of human HSP-60 (336-351), as previously reported. Then, the pathogenesis of BD was discussed referring to intrinsic genetic factors and extrinsic triggering factors in aspects of streptococcal hypersensitivity, which might be acquired through the innate immune mechanisms. The BD symptoms were thought to be due to vascular reactions as immune responses in correlation with monocyte expressed streptococcal agents.

Colonization of Helicobacter pylori in the Gastric Mucosa of Mongolian Gerbils

Helicobacter pylori was orally inoculated into Mongolian gerbils. The organisms were able to colonize in the gastro‐mucosal layer of the gerbils, especially in those gerbils which had mucosal lesions caused by indomethacin treatment. The pathological changes developed by H. pylori infection were restricted to the stomachs, and only slightly inflammatory cells were observed.

Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment. In order to provide basic information for biokinetics of radionuclides and for dose assessment of internal exposure brought by the FNPP accident, we determined the activity concentration of radionuclides in the organs of 79 cattle within a 20-km radius around the FNPP. In all the specimens examined, deposition of Cesium-134 (134Cs, half-life: 2.065 y) and 137Cs (30.07 y) was observed. Furthermore, organ-specific deposition of radionuclides with relatively short half-lives was detected, such as silver-110m (110mAg, 249.8 d) in the liver and tellurium-129m (129mTe, 33.6 d) in the kidney. Regression analysis showed a linear correlation between the radiocesium activity concentration in whole peripheral blood (PB) and that in each organ. The resulting slopes were organ dependent with the maximum value of 21.3 being obtained for skeletal muscles (R2 = 0.83, standard error (SE) = 0.76). Thus, the activity concentration of 134 Cs and 137Cs in an organ can be estimated from that in PB. The level of radioactive cesium in the organs of fetus and infants were 1.19-fold (R2 = 0.62, SE = 0.12), and 1.51-fold (R2 = 0.70, SE = 0.09) higher than that of the corresponding maternal organ, respectively. Furthermore, radiocesium activity concentration in organs was found to be dependent on the feeding conditions and the geographic location of the cattle. This study is the first to reveal the detailed systemic distribution of radionuclides in cattle attributed to the FNPP accident.

Negative Regulation of Quorum-Sensing Systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by ATP-Dependent Lon Protease

Lon protease, a member of the ATP-dependent protease family, regulates numerous cellular systems by degrading specific substrates. Here, we demonstrate that Lon is involved in the regulation of quorum-sensing (QS) signaling systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic human pathogen. The organism has two acyl-homoserine lactone (HSL)-mediated QS systems, LasR/LasI and RhlR/RhlI. Many reports have demonstrated that these two systems are regulated and interconnected by global regulators. We found that lon-disrupted cells overproduce pyocyanin, the biosynthesis of which depends on the RhlR/RhlI system, and show increased levels of a transcriptional regulator, RhlR. The QS systems are organized hierarchically: the RhlR/RhlI system is subordinate to LasR/LasI. To elucidate the mechanism by which Lon negatively regulates RhlR/RhlI, we examined the effect of lon disruption on the LasR/LasI system. We found that Lon represses the expression of LasR/LasI by degrading LasI, an HSL synthase, leading to negative regulation of the RhlR/RhlI system. RhlR/RhlI was also shown to be regulated by Lon independently of LasR/LasI via regulation of RhlI, an HSL synthase. In view of these findings, it is suggested that Lon protease is a powerful negative regulator of both HSL-mediated QS systems in P. aeruginosa.