Bacterial Pathogenesis Flashcards
What is the main entry point for pathogens?
Mucosal Layers
What must pathogens overcome to colonise a host? What is required?
- Overcome physical barriers, innate immunity
- Establish self in host
- Outcompete normal flora
- Requires adherence
What can mediate adhesion?
o Pili/fimbriae
o Afimbrial adhesins
o Capsules
What allows bacteria to adhere?
- Depends on bacterial factors, host receptor availability
- Common host structure and accessible is glycocalyx
- Bacteria need to pass mucin layer (goblet cells produce)
- Target areas with reduced mucous (M cells e.g.)
- Adhesins target common sugar structures (vary enough for some specificity)
- Can target common protein receptors (β1 integrin)
- Mimic natural ligand for receptor
What are fimbrial and afimbrial adhesins?
Fimbrial Adhesins
• Complex surface structures made up of repeating protein subunits
Afimbrial Adhesins
• Outer membrane proteins (G-)
What are the features of gram negative Type I/Pap fimbriae?
Type I/Pap pili
• Assembly requires usher/chaperone system
• Pilus = fibre of six strutrual proteins
• Thick rod, thin tip
• UPEC
What does type I pili bind?
mannose (glycoporteins)
What does Pap pili bind?
bind Gal α (1-4)Gal (glycolipids)
How is the biogenesis of type I and Pap pili regulated?
- Switch mechanism for regulation: all on/off, all elements needed to form pilus
- Pap gene cluster (regulation, major pilus subunit, rod terminator, outer membrane usher, periplasmic chaperone, adaptor/initiator as part of tip/adhesion, Gal α (1-4) binding adhesin)
- Fim gene cluster (same with mannose binding adhesin)
What occurs during pili biogenesis?
- Subunits made in cytoplasm, transported to periplasm
- Pilin subunit must bind chaperone (or degraded)
- Ushered to outer membrane
- Subunits connected on cell surface
What are pilicides?
• Antibiotics, prevent pili construction (interrupt ushers, polygenesis on surface)
What are the features of type IV pili?
- Different biogenesis (no usher, chaperone)
- Polar location
- Form bundles
- Inter bacterial interactions, mucosal adherence, biofilms
- Conserved features
- Twitching motility
What type of pili does EPEC have? What is it essential for?
Type IV
For adherence/colonisation
What are the features of Bordetella pertussis?
o Whooping cough
o Pertussis toxin
o Fimbrial and afimbrial adhesins
o Acellular vaccine less powerful than whole cell (less adjuvants to make response last)
o Vaccine with inactivated toxin, afimbrial adhesins
What type of adhesins does Bordetella pertussis have?
o Fimbrial and afimbrial adhesins
What is FHA?
• Filamentous Haemagglutinin (FHA part of acellular vaccine for Brodetella pertussis)
o 250 kDa
o Adherence
o Binding domains (central RGD motif: mimics β1 integrin), Mimics extracellular matrix protein binding to integrin
What are the features of adhesins in Streptococcus and Staphylococcus?
o Bind extracellur matrix proteins
o Recognise ECM proteins: tissue tropism
o Fibronectin-binding proteins with similar organisation and several repeat regions
What is twitching motility? What organism has it?
o Pseudomonas aeruginosa
o Bacterial crawling
o Pili retract (Type IV)
What is LEE?
- Pathogencity island
- In all A/E pathogens, has all A/E genes
- Genes for T3SS
- Proteins for virulence:
- Intimin
What is intimin?
o Outer membrane protein
o Afimbrial adhesin
What is TIR?
o Translocated intimin receptor
o Secreted by T3SS, put in host membrane
o Phosphorylated by host cell kinases
o Binds intimin
What are the functions of EspA, EspB and EspD?
• EspA, EspB, EspD (secreted proteins)
o EspA = pilus like surface organelle (hollow tube)
o EspB and EspD in host cell membrane, form pore
How do A/E lesions change cytoskeletal structure?
- Intimate attachment causes cytoskeletal change
- A/E pedestal body has lots of structural cytoskeletal proteins (F-actin, talin, ezrin, vilin)
- Host proteins for recruitment: Arp2/3, N-WASP
What is the structure of actin? At which end does polymerisation occur?
o F-actin: polymerised monomers, two twisted linear protofilaments, dynamic
o Polymerisaition at + end (barbed)
o Depolymerisation at – end (pointed)
o Arp2/3 nucleates actin to begin filament
What does N-WASP do?
o Bind Arp 2/3 complex, induce actin polymerisation
o Tip of A/E lesion
What is the process that leads to actin recruitment?
Tir Has Tyr residue which is phosphorylated → recognised by Nick → binds N-WASP → N-WASP binds ARP 2/3 → Actin recruitment
- N + C terminals of Tir interact with cytoskeletal components directly
- Middle region of Tir binds intimin