Bacteriology - pathogenesis Flashcards

1
Q

What is the name of bacterial that replicate in the host without causing disease?

A

Commensals

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2
Q

What are virulence factors?

A

Bacterial adaptations that contribute to pathogenesis

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3
Q

What features of bacteria aid colonization?

A

Pili, fimbriae and polysaccharide capsules

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4
Q

What do Koch’s postulates describe?

A

They are four criteria designed to establish a causative relationship between a microbe and a disease

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5
Q

What are Koch’s postulates?

A

1) The microorganisms must be found in abundance in all organisms suffering from the disease, but should not be found in healthy organisms
2) The microorganism must be isolate from a diseased organism and grown in pure culture
3) The cultured microorganism should cause disease when introduced into a healthy organism
4) The microorganism must be reisolated from the inoculated, diseased experimental host and identified as being identified to the original specific causative agent

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6
Q

What is bacteraemia?

A

The presence of bacteria in the blood

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7
Q

What can bacteraemia lead to?

A

The immune response to the bacteria can cause sepsis and septic shock

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8
Q

Which severe infections can cause bacteraemia?

A

Pneumonia or meningitis

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9
Q

What is sepsis?

A

When the body’s response to infection causes injury to its tissues and organs

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10
Q

What is septic shock?

A

Condition that occurs when sepsis leads to life-threatening low blood pressure

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11
Q

Give basic examples of immune evasion

A
  • Host mimicry
  • Antigenic variation
  • Recruitment of immune modulators
  • Subversion of immune responses
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12
Q

How may gene transcription be regulated during bacterial growth?

A
  • Nutrient sensing
  • Two component signal transduction
  • Quorum sensing
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13
Q

What is nutrient sensing?

A

Gene transcription regulated by detection of specific nutrients

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14
Q

What is two-component signal transduction?

A

Sensor detects an environmental factor and phosphorylates a regulator that activates gene transcription

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15
Q

What is quorum sensing?

A

Changes in cell-population density alter levels of diffusible autoinducers (that increase in concentration as a function of cell density) that bind to transcriptional activators inducing gene transcription - in effect, quorum sensing is a mechanism of communication between bacteria

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16
Q

Give an example of a bacterial cell component that mediates adhesion

A

Type 1 pili → mediate E.coli adhesion to human bladder epithelial cells → cystitis

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17
Q

Give examples of intracellular pathogens

A

Salmonella
Shigella
MTB

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18
Q

What is speticemia?

A

The poisoning of the blood by bacteria of their toxins

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19
Q

How may bacteria invade tissues?

A
  • enzymes that degrade matrix (e.g. hyraluronidase, elastase)
  • Some IC bacteria use ligand receptor interactions to gain access to a cell → example is TB → uptake is initiated by interaction between either the macrophage mannose receptor or the complement receptors, and bacterial surface proteins
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20
Q

What types of bacteria secrete exotoxins?

A

Both G+ and G-

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21
Q

What is the composition of exotoxins?

A

They are proteins

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22
Q

What are invasins?

A

Toxins that have a local activity in promoting bacterial invasion

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23
Q

What are exotoxins usually encoded on?

A

Plasmid or bacteriophage DNA, rather than on the bacterial chromosome

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24
Q

Do endo- or exotoxins have a higher toxicity?

A

Exotoxins

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25
Q

Do endo- or exotoxins have a higher specificity to bacterial strains?

A

Exotoxins

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26
Q

Give examples of some mechanisms of action of exotoxins?

A
ADP-ribosylation
Protease activity 
Cleavage of other substances 
Superantigens 
Glucosyltransferases 
Pore-forming toxins
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27
Q

What are molecular Koch’s postulates?

A

A set of experimental criteria that must be satisfied to show that a gene found in a pathogenic microorganism encodes a product that contributes to the disease caused by the pathogen

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28
Q

What are genes that satisfy molecular Koch’s postulates known as?

A

Virulence factors

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29
Q

What are the molecular Koch’s postulates?

A

1 - the disease phenotype should be associated with the pathogenic members of a genus, or strains of a species - it should be absent from pathogenic ones
2 - Specific inactivation of virulence trait genes should lead to a loss in pathogenicity
3 - Reversion or replacement of the mutated gene leads to restoration of pathogenicity

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30
Q

Example of exotoxin acting via protease acitvity

A

Botulinum toxin released by Clostridium botulinum

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31
Q

What does botulinum toxin do?

A

It is a neurotoxin which functions by cleaving SNARE proteins involves in the release of ACh at the NMJ → inhibits ACh release at NMJ → muscle paralysis

32
Q

Give an example of a toxin that cleaves something other than proteins

A

Alpha toxin secreted by Clostridium perfringens

33
Q

What does alpha toxins from Clostridium perfringes do?

A

It is a phospholipase which cleaves cell membranes and kills the cell

34
Q

How do superantigens function?

A

By binding non-specifically to MHCII of APCs which then activate Th cells, without any need to undergo intracellular processing → massive release of cytokines which causes symptoms of toxic shock such as hypotension and fever

35
Q

Give example of toxin acting as glucosyltransferase

A

Toxins A and B released from Clostridium dificile

36
Q

What do toxins A and B released from C.dificile do?

A

They glycosylate GTPase which usually maintain the actin cytoskeleton → leads to apoptosis → this leads to characteristic watery diarrhoea due to compromised intercellular junctions

37
Q

Example of extracellular pathogen

A

Neiserria meningitidis

38
Q

Where does endotoxin come from?

A

outer leaflet of the outer bacterial cell membrane in Gram negative bacteria

39
Q

What does LPS consist of?

A
  • Conserved lipid A which is the endotoxin part of the molecule
  • A conserved polysaccharide core
  • A highly variable O-antigen which consists of a repeating polysaccharide chain of varying length
40
Q

What PRR does LPS eventually activate?

A

TLR4

41
Q

What are the major effects of endotoxin?

A
  • Activation of macrophages, complement, Haegman factor
  • These lead to fever, hypotension, inflammation, vascular coagulation
  • this is often called SIRS
42
Q

What is the mechanism of action of LPS?

A

Binds to lipid binding protein → transfers it to CD14 on the cell membrane → transfers it to MD2 → this associates it with TLR4 → this is coupled to NFkB

43
Q

Brief explanation of Shigella pathogenesis

A
  • By translocation through M (microfold) cells
  • M cells are specialised ECs that sample particles from gut lumen and present them to underlying mucosal lymphoid tissue
  • After this, shigella is released from the M cell to get into the cytoplasm of the intestinal epithelial cells through basolateral side
  • Once inside EC, it moves by directed polymerisation of actin to adjacent cells
  • This elicits a strong inflammatory response
44
Q

What mediates epithelial cell entry of Shigella?

A
  • Secretion of effector proteins by a type 3 secretion system at the basolateral membrane of the EC
  • This causes cytoskeletal rearrangement and lysis of vacuolar membranes for phagosome escape
45
Q

Where does Shigella invade?

A

Colon

46
Q

Where does Salmonella invade?

A

The small intestine epithelial cells in a similar manner to Shigella (translocation through M cells)

47
Q

Where in the epithelial cells does Salmonella grow and survive?

A

In the phagolysome

48
Q

Describe secretion systems of Salmonella

A

It has two T3SSs

  • SPI-1 → entry into non-phagocytic cells - induction of intestinal inflammatory responses and diarrhoea
  • SPI-1 → intracelular survival and replication (in macrophages) and induction of systemic disease
49
Q

Do G+ or G- typically have a T3SS?

A

G-

50
Q

What does the T3SS apparatus consist of?

A

Two rings that provide a continuous path across the inner and outer embranes, including the peptidoglycan layer
Also has a needle-like structure

51
Q

Give examples of some bacteria that are associated with T3SSs

A

EPEC, EHEC, Shigella, Salmonella

52
Q

Endotoxin is produced by…

A

G-

53
Q

Draw endotoxin

A

Look at essay plan

54
Q

What does LPS consist of?

A
  • Conserved lipid A
  • Conserved polysaccharide core (same within a genus of bacteria)
  • A highly variable O-antigen which consists of a repeating polysaccharide chain of varying length
55
Q

What are the effects of endotoxin?

A

Activation of macrophages → Hypothalamic temperature regulatory centre → fever
→ NO vasodilation → hypotension
Activation of complement → inflammation
Activation of Haegman factor → coagulation

56
Q

What can endotoxin ultimately lead to?

A

Endotoxic shock → severe, generalized inflammatory response induced by bloodstream infection with G- bacteria

57
Q

Give an example of an ADP-ribosylation toxin

A
  • often the mechanism by which enterotoxins cause diarrhoea (e.g cholera toxin, hexamer of 5CTB and 1CTA)
  • CTB binds enterocytes
  • CTA ribosylate GPCR, ultimately leading to Cl- efflux
58
Q

Example of toxin with protease activity

A

Botulinum

Cleaves SNARE

59
Q

Example of protein causing cleavage of other substances

A

Alpha toxin from Clostridium perfringens

Cleaves cell membranes

60
Q

Example of superantigen

A

TSST
Bind non-specifically to MHCII of APCs which then activate Th cells, without any need to undergo intracellular processing
Results in a massive release of cytokines (e.g. IL-1 and IL-2), causing symptoms of toxic shock such as hypotension and fever → cytokine storm

61
Q

Give examples of invasins

A

EC enzymes which degrade tissue allow bacterial spread (collagenase, hyaluronidase, streptokinase)

62
Q

What roles does LPS play?

A
  • acts as a protective permeability barrier
  • adhesion
  • variations of LPS allow different antigenic strains, allow species to bypass immunity
63
Q

What is the mechanism of LPS?

A
  • Binds to liid binding protein
  • LB in serum which transfers it to CD14
  • transfers it to a non-anchored protein MD2
  • this associates it with TLR4
  • TLR4 is coupled with NFkB which is the source of the symptoms of shock
64
Q

Where does BoNT primarily act?

A

NMJ → inhibits cholinergic transmission and leading to an instability of alpha motor neurons and muscles to communication and lead to contraction → flaccid paralysis

65
Q

Where does TeNT act?

A
  • retroaxonally transported from peripheral neurones to inhibitory neurons where cholinergic transmission is inhibited, leaving excitatory stimulation of motor neurons unoppsed and resulting in spastic paralysis
66
Q

What toxins mediate diarrhoea in Clostridium difficile infection? What do these do?

A

Enterotoxin (toxin A) mediates apical entry

Cytotoxin (toxin B) enters basolaterally

67
Q

What are the mechanisms of the two clostrium difficile toxins?

A

Both are glucosyltransferases which target and inactivate Rho GTPase
This impairs the cell funtions downstream from these

68
Q

Main virulence factor of N.meningitidis

A

Capsule

69
Q

What structure associted with the bacterial cell wall of certain strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae prevents phagocytosis?

A

Capsule

70
Q

Examples of encapsulated bacteria

A
E coli (some strains)
N.menigitidis 
Salmonella typhi
Strep. pneumoniae and pyogenes
S aureus
71
Q

Capsule - more common in G+ or G-?

A

more common among G-

72
Q

What is the capsule of S.pyogenes composed of?

A

Hyaluronic acid

73
Q

What secretion system does shigella use?

A

T3SS

74
Q

Where does salmonella invade?

A

The small intestine

75
Q

Where does shigella invade?

A

colon