Brucella cyclic β-1,2-glucan plays a critical role in the induction of splenomegaly in mice

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 1;9(7):e101279. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101279. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Brucella, the etiological agent of animal and human brucellosis, is a bacterium with the capacity to modulate the inflammatory response. Cyclic β-1,2-glucan (CβG) is a virulence factor key for the pathogenesis of Brucella as it is involved in the intracellular life cycle of the bacteria. Using comparative studies with different CβG mutants of Brucella, cgs (CβG synthase), cgt (CβG transporter) and cgm (CβG modifier), we have identified different roles for this polysaccharide in Brucella. While anionic CβG is required for bacterial growth in low osmolarity conditions, the sole requirement for a successful Brucella interaction with mammalian host is its transport to periplasmic space. Our results uncover a new role for CβG in promoting splenomegaly in mice. We showed that CβG-dependent spleen inflammation is the consequence of massive cell recruitment (monocytes, dendritics cells and neutrophils) due to the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and TNF-α and also that the reduced splenomegaly response observed with the cgs mutant is not the consequence of changes in expression levels of the characterized Brucella PAMPs LPS, flagellin or OMP16/19. Complementation of cgs mutant with purified CβG increased significantly spleen inflammation response suggesting a direct role for this polysaccharide.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / genetics
  • Animals
  • Brucella abortus / genetics
  • Brucella abortus / metabolism
  • Brucellosis / microbiology*
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Glucosyltransferases / genetics
  • Inflammation / microbiology*
  • Mice
  • Splenomegaly / microbiology*
  • beta-Glucans / metabolism*

Substances

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
  • Cgt protein, Brucella abortus
  • Cytokines
  • beta-Glucans
  • cyclic beta(1-2)glucan
  • Glucosyltransferases
  • glucan synthase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Técnológica, Buenos Aires, Argentina (PICT 2006-1208, PICT 2011-1772,), CONICET (PIP1142010010031401). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.