The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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Published online 13 March 2000.
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/2000/3/949/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 191, Number 6, March 20, 2000 949-960


Original Article

Role of Lipooligosaccharide in Opa-independent Invasion of Neisseria gonorrhoeae into Human Epithelial Cells

Wenxia Songa, Lang Maa, Ruiwu Chena, and Daniel C. Steina
a Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742

Correspondence to: Wenxia Song, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Tel:301-405-7552 Fax:301-314-9489 E-mail:ws98{at}usmail.umd.edu.

Released online: 13 March 2000

Lipooligosaccharide (LOS) has been implicated in the adhesion and invasion of host epithelial cells. We examined the adhesive and invasive abilities of isogenic gonococcal opacity-associated outer membrane protein–negative, pilus-positive (Opa-Pil+) Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains expressing genetically defined LOS. Strain F62 (Opa-Pil+), expressing the lacto-N-neotetraose and the galNac-lacto-N-neotetraose LOS, and its isogenic derivative that expressed only the lacto-N-neotetraose LOS (F62{Delta}lgtD), adhered to, and invaded, to the same extent the human cervical epidermoid carcinoma cell line, ME180. While the adhesive abilities of Opa-Pil+ isogenic strains that express LOS molecules lacking the lacto-N-neotetraose structure were similar to that seen for F62, their invasive abilities were much lower than the strains expressing lacto-N-neotetraose. Fluorescence microscopy studies showed that the adherence of F62, but not the strains lacking lacto-N-neotetraose, induced the rearrangement of actin filaments under the adherent sites. Electron microscopy studies demonstrated that F62, but not the strains lacking lacto-N-neotetraose, formed extensive and intimate associations with epithelial cell membranes. Thus, in the absence of detectable Opa protein, the lacto-N-neotetraose LOS promotes gonococcal invasion into ME180 cells. The data also suggest that LOS is involved in the mobilization of actin filaments in host cells, and in the formation of a direct interaction between the bacterial outer membrane and the plasma membrane of ME180 cells.

Key Words: pathogenesis, cell biology, immunofluorescence, outer membrane proteins, virulence factors


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